A new eco group is launching in our town after a successful meeting of Transition Swindon last week.

The group, which is part of a nationwide Transition movement, met at the Deers Leap in Penhill on Wednesday to decide on their next steps.

“The meeting was brilliant, fantastic," said Glynis Hales, the lady behind it.

“We had about 35 people turning up and volunteering to take on different roles," she said.

Transition Swindon will be an umbrella group under which other eco-friendly and socially responsible organisations can be connected.

"It will be a place where all the different groups currently doing good things in Swindon can being joined up and all support each other with their work," said Glynis.

"Essentially it is about supporting the town to transition to a sustainable lifestyle," she added.

Transition Swindon aims to achieve a range of different eco-related goals including encouraging verges to be left for wildlife, ensuring businesses recycle more rubbish and power is sourced from sustainable methods.

"We want to encourage the council to do more for wildlife, for example with bird and bat boxes and making sure all houses are properly insulated," said Glynis.

The new group will be open to the whole town and organisations currently involved include Swindon Climate Action Network, Swindon Street Reps, the John Moulton hall in Penhill and Incredible Edibles, among many others.

Glynis Hales got involved in starting the group after working with one of the organisers for Transition Marlborough.

She said: "I often wondered why we weren’t a transition town already, so I decided to make it happen."

Glynis attributes the current surge of interest in climate change to David Attenborough’s Blue Planet series and Greta Thunberg’s protests against governments' inaction towards climate change.

“If I’d tried to do something like this five years ago I wouldn’t have got anywhere. Now people think I’m a guru,” added Glynis.

The group will meet every six weeks, with the next gathering scheduled for September.

Anyone interested in getting involved can email glynishales@gmail.com or check out the group's Facebook page.