The South West Green Party raised over £300 on Saturday 8th October with a sponsored bike ride & walk along the canal in Exeter. The funds will go towards the campaign to get a Green MEP elected in the South West.
The weather was much better than expected and we did about ten miles from the Quay right down past the Double Locks pub to the Turf and back again.
Calling all masterchefs out there!! I’m compiling a cookbook/recipe book for the green party here in the south west. It’s a bit of fun, as we all know us greens like our nosh and lots of us are culinary whizzkids behind that kitchen door. We can also raise a few quid from it too if we all chip in and make it happen. We can split the profits between the regional committee (funds for the European Elections in 2014) and your own local parties. Hope you can help, it’s really quite simple, all you do is…
Think of your favourite recipe, perhaps an old favourite, something you (or a friend/relative has) invented or a delicious recipe passed down through the family. (Please do not copy from a cookbook as we could be in all sorts of trouble with copyright!)
Email me the recipe to sdpavey@googlemail.com as a word document.
Please make sure you include:
Your name
Your local green party in the south west
Add a few lines about the recipe – where it came from, why you enjoy it, how it’s best served etc. Any funny anecdotes are great too. Recipes from around the world would be great.
Title of recipe
Ingredients list
Instructions
Optional – photo of you making it, or you and your family eating it.
There you go, easy as pie. If you have a favourite local veggie/vegan cafe or eatery you can recommend, please email me their details as we will be looking for sponsorship for the cookbooks.
Sharon Pavey – Coordinator for the east devon greens & south west regional fundraiser
In Sweden, fathers are offered up to 16 months paid paternity leave after the birth of a child, the most generous in the world, during which time they are paid 80% of their gross salary, up to a ceiling of about 30,000 pounds.
In Britain, by contrast, they are offered two weeks after the birth at (low) statutory level. The extreme disparity between those approaches reflects broad differences across Europe, and around the world, on an issue that is currently being hotly debated, both in the European parliament and at Westminster.
Natalie Bennett, Chair of Green Party Women, looks at how we need to change our approach to fatherhood – read more here.
Phelim Mac Cafferty, National Chair of LGBT Greens asked: “In reaction to Conservative plans yesterday to offer married couples a transferable tax allowance, LGBT Greens want to ask why do we have yet more planned tax breaks which favour marriage and thereby heterosexual relationships? Further- what reassurances can the Conservatives give us as to what happens to those in civil partnerships or do they face discrimination through these proposals? As civil partnerships are not actual marriage, these proposals can’t apply to same sex couples.
Phelim continued: “While the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Philip Hammond, said the Tories might have reassessed their original proposals, they are fundamentally short-sighted and based on unequal treatment. They are unfair.
“Greens have been historically right to insist on full marriage rights for same sex couples – as currently the two system style approach bought in by Labour enables the Tories to widen the equality gulf.
“While national statistics show a growing number of citizens- straight and lgbt- are living alone, the Green Party wants to state clearly: we regard all stable relationships as equally valid. We strongly believe that the state’s job should be about supporting citizens’ freedom, not attempting to push people in a particular direction in their personal life.
Phelim concluded: “Are we not being reminded- yet again- that the homophobia that we were assured had been extinguished in the Tory Party was never driven out? The sort of coded bigotry that we have seen from the Conservatives should be no surprise- it speaks volumes about the historic hate agenda of the Conservatives. We’ve also seen Labour react not to a lack of fairness but considering how the proposals would be paid for, which sums up some of their attitude. Greens will resist bigoted policies having any part to play in the upcoming general election and we will fight strongly for policies built on equality and fairness.”
Mid Devon Green Party is now in the process of opening nominations for the new constituency of Central Devon. A mailing should be going out tomorrow, and after nominations, hustings, voting etc the Mid Devon Green Party should be able to announce a candidate on Tuesday 23rd February.
If you are interested in being the new Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Central Devon – please contact me and I can pass your details on to Kate Povey – the Local Contact and Returning Officer for this Election for the Mid Devon Green Party.
It’s my 37th birthday on Thursday 28th January 2010 & I would love to receive 37 birthday comments on this NEW blog for all things green & wonderful…
…only RULE is that each comment has to be about something GREEN !!!
Share a green tip, or refer us to an eco website, or tell us about a green group or something YOU are actively doing to make a difference!
This would make me a very happy birthday girl – thank you everyone!
….and if you want to give me a really special birthday gift – our local Green Party group needs to raise £500 so I can (hopefully) stand as a parliamentary candidate here in East Devon (did you know you have to pay £500 for the pleasure of standing for election!!!).
Click here to contact me to find out where you can post your donation to – I can then give you the details of our treasurer.
THANK YOU !!! Sharon
Then & Now: photograph at the top circa 1974 in fetching (cloth!) nappy & photo at the bottom New Years Day 2010 on Lyme Regis beach with Chilli.
I went over to Exeter today to visit the Exeter Green Party stall outside Boots on the High Street. I’m on the right of Isaac Price-Sosner who is the Local Party Contact for Exeter. Paula Black is on the left and is a Green Party County Councillor representing Totnes and Rural in South Devon. Paula is also running for the UK national elections in 2010. She is a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Green Party for the city of Exeter….so it was a really lovely unexpected surprise to meet her today. If you’d like to know more about Paula’s life since becoming a Green Devon county councillor in summer 2009 – click here to read her blog. I have read it and it’s very a very honest and personable account of what the role of a county councillor involves.
Isaac was a great help with advice for the new East Devon Green Party group – which is officially forming on Saturday 16th January in Sidmouth (click here for details of the meeting) and he might even be able to come over to Sidmouth to help us get started, which would be wonderful.
Thanks guys – great to meet you & I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.
Would you like a fairer, cleaner, more affordable future for everyone? Are you disillusioned with the other political parties and want to be part of something different, something exciting and NEW right here in East Devon? Please add your comment on the bottom of this blog if you would like to express an interest in making a LOCAL East Devon group come to life – we need members TODAY! Our first meeting is planned for Saturday January 16th 2010 in Sidmouth. You can also email me – Sharon Pavey direct for more details on sdpavey@googlemail.com
I am hoping to stand for the general election in the spring if we can get an East Devon group off the ground – PLEASE help us make this happen. Get in touch. That’s me at the bottom with one of my chickens!
The Green Party is the only party that has the policies to tackle head-on the economic crisis and at the same time lay the foundations for a sustainable and fair society.
Life on Earth is under immense pressure. It is human activity, more than anything else, which is threatening the well-being of the environment on which we depend. Conventional politics has failed us because its values are fundamentally flawed. The Green Party isn’t just another political party. Green politics is a new and radical kind of politics guided by core principles like building a sustainable society that guarantees our long-term future.
Humankind depends on the diversity of the natural world for its existence. Green Party members do not believe that other species are expendable. Our actions should also take account of the well-being of other nations, other species, and future generations. We should not pursue our well-being to the detriment of theirs.
A healthy society is based on voluntary co-operation between empowered individuals in a democratic society, free from discrimination whether based on race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social origin or any other prejudice. The Green Party believes in democratic participation and accountability by ensuring that decisions are taken at the closest practical level to those affected by them.
If you need to check whether you are in the East Devon constituency which includes Axminster, Sidmouth, Seaton, Exmouth, Axmouth and Budleigh Salterton simply click here and enter your postcode.
Been researching my local parliamentary constituency here in East Devon as I’m still thinking about running for the Green Party in the next General Election in spring 2010. The East Devon area covers the wards of Axminster, Beer and Branscombe, Budleigh, Coly Valley, Exmouth, Newbridges, Newton Poppleford and Hartford, Otterhead, Raleigh, Seaton, Sidmouth, Trinity, Woodbury and Lympstone and Yarty.
I think I live in the Yarty ward, but finding it extremely difficult to find this out online. The current Member of Parliament for East Devon is Hugo Swire, of the Conservative Party.
I’ve been blogging GREEN over on my business website recently and have thought that I needed a brand new blog dedicated purely to green, eco and environmental issues. Just this week I’ve been talking about the very first East Devon Green Party meeting which took place in Sidmouth last Saturday 12th December 2009 plus other issues on my mind like future food shortages in the UK, overpopulation of the planet and my own choice to stop at two children.
I’m also considering putting myself up for prospective parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in East Devon so this will be a site where I can plot that new and exciting journey. Hope you’ll come along for the ride.
The beautiful painting above is of a Rose of Sharon – by Barbara Kennedy & here is Barbara’s website http://barbarakennedystudio.com/
