WE ARE AN OPEN COMMUNITY. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL (NOBODY CHECKS IT), INSTEAD MESSAGE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE
https://www.facebook.com/transitionheathrow/
TO ARRANGE A VISIT, OR JUST TURN UP
The best days to visit are any day ! come and join us chopping wood , helping in the garden, skipping, cooking or just hanging out drinking tea 🙂
There are a few acres of land by the M4 and M25 motorways in west London where three dilapidated greenhouses stand. Since 2010 a group of activists, local residents and people living off-grid have worked to develop the site into a self-sustaining low carbon community, and to be a community centre/Host for groups, events & activists.
We grow and forage food; we have growing spaces in our front meadow that are available for local people as allotment plots and a polytunnel as well as a young orchard, but most comes from waste from wholesalers and supermarkets. Like many people on low incomes, we ‘go skipping’, looking for baguettes, pastries and pork pies thrown out at the end of the day as well as surplus fruit and vegetables donated from large warehouses. We also save money by cooking in bulk as we share dinner together. We ask if people who have stayed a longish time and settled into the community could donate a small amount monthly for basics but there is no pressure to donate for those with low funds etc.
We are off-grid, using electricity from a wind turbine and solar panels. This is always enough for efficient lights, music and charging phones. When it’s sunny or windy there is energy to charge laptops and for haircuts.
Residents can seem busy doing their own thing and it can be challenging to know how to get involved. If you’re independent and self-motivated to get stuck in growing veg, chopping wood, cooking and welcoming visitors, you’re likely to enjoy yourself. Other land-based projects organise more of a schedule for volunteers and might suit some people better.
You can also check our Facebook page for workshops and events like green building weeks. We took direct action to squat land blocking Heathrow’s third runway to prevent the climate crime of airport expansion.
Please consider our legal status as squatters; This means we don’t own the land.
Unfortunately a lot of paths are uneven or covered in wood chip which makes them really challenging for wheelchair users. It can be done, and has been done various times with a personal assistant. When we build new structures we try to put in ramps and repair broken paths, but unfortunately there is one step into the guest cabin and about four steps into the compost loo.
Grow Heathrow are looking for reliable, creative people that align themselves with the aims of the project. All you growers, foragers, community organisers, bike mechanics and more, get in touch if you’re interested.
Grow Heathrow is a community project as well as our home, so please send us a message on our Facebook page if you can but if you just turn up you’ll be more than welcome to visit or stay.
How to get here? Cycle along the Grand Union canal, hitch to junction 4 on the M4 or get the train to West Drayton or Hounslow West and then the 222 bus to Harmondsworth Lane
~~~~VOLUNTEER AND RESIDENT GROUP AGREEMENTS~~~~~
Agree with the wider aims of the Transition Heathrow project such as resisting airport expansion, lowering carbon emissions and improving community resilience in the Heathrow villages.
We have four main Aims:
o To further the Heathrow villages as an iconic symbol of community resistance to the economic, ecological and democratic crises.
o To develop and promote community and resource autonomy to support long-term community resilience
o To establish replicable structures of organisation, which could provide a model for future non-hierarchical, consensus-based communities.
o To root the grassroots radical values of the 3rd runway resistance in the Heathrow villages for the long term
· Positively interact with the wider community.
· Welcoming and helping visitors, and encouraging more people to visit the site.
· Generally supporting others in what work they’re doing on site, including being aware of other people’s workloads, helping avoid burnout in others, and attending events/projects that are organised by others.
· Skill-share wherever possible.
· Challenge gender stereotypes through behaviour, language and attitude – not to occupy negative gender stereotypes or enforce them on others..
· Grow Heathrow is a non-hierarchical space. However, power relations will inevitably emerge. We should all do our best to be mindful of them and proactive in challenging them. Treat everyone as you would want to be treated.
——— Please come along and visit ———
