Transition Monmouth Chair’s Report – November 2025
Our members have continued to expend their time, skills and energy to the success of Transition activities and projects throughout last year. It is always a privilege to be able to summarise them and you are encouraged to make contact if you want further details or indeed wish to contribute in any way. We are a member-led organisation building resilient and sustainable communities to combat climate change, the need for which is all too self-evident here in Monmouth.
It has been a year of highs and lows for the group as well as the town. We’ve said goodbye to members who made outsized contributions to Transition Monmouth and Monmouth Town, through generosity of their expertise, driving projects forward and endless hard work from the very founding of the group. We very much miss Haydn, Cheryl and Vivien and their positive work is all around to see.
We also witnessed the devastating effects from Storm Claudia in November. Following an unprecedented 4m surge, the River Monnow broke its banks leaving widespread flooding, 685 homes without electricity and firefighters dealing with 85 incidents and evacuations, often by boat. Some two months later, many businesses are yet to reopen and people still in temporary accommodation. The IPCC [UN Climate body] has said heavy rainfall events have become more frequent and intense over land regions due to human activity.
Two of our larger projects rent premises in the grounds of Bridges Centre and consequently suffered significant flooding and loss of equipment and appliances. Through the dedication and hard work of our members the premises was brought back into use well before Christmas and the projects could continue serving the community.
Monmouth Community Fridge – our largest project reduces food waste while providing a valuable service to the community. Short-dated food, along with flowers and other surplus, are collected nightly from local supermarkets before being freely distributed the following day from the specially adapted premises at Bridges Centre. There is no barrier to use, with food waste saving being the primary driver rather than need, though it is often welcome during the cost-of-living crises. For the customer there is, in addition to food, social interaction with fellow customers and a friendly face to greet them and maybe offer advice and signposting for their needs. This extensive operation is only possible through much coordinator and volunteer (35) resource; cleaning, arranging collection and distribution rotas, volunteer recruitment and training, fundraising and maintaining a rigorous 5* Food Hygiene rating. Notable highlights include;
Flood – volunteers responded quickly to recover the room and renewing the appliances and other items lost to the flood water. They sought out and implemented best practise to return the room to a clean and hygienic standard. The closed period was used to refine the processes and paperwork to improve the service for both volunteers and customers. Even the opening times have been tweaked to improve customer attendance. In addition, some volunteers used the time to work with other projects contributing to the flood response in Monmouth. We were supported by Lions Club International to purchase lost cleaning equipment, which was much appreciated.
Christmas Eve Giveaway – large amounts of short-dated and surplus food become available just before the supermarkets close for Christmas, so we were really pleased to be in a position to run this event shortly after the flooding. With some 80 customers and over a dozen volunteers it proved a successful and enjoyable evening.
Funding – the Fridge and Monmouth Town Council entered a formal partnership agreement which provides longer term funding stability and enables closer working with Councillors for the benefit of the community. Further funding came from Rotary Monmouth in recognition of the contribution of the Fridge to the local community, helping towards rent and electricity costs.
Partnerships – the Fridge work with many local organisations to improve the reach of the food distribution; Overmonnow Primary, Monnow Vale Clinic, Monmouth Library, Leisure Centre and Wyesham Warren. This is only possible though the daily efforts of Terry and his trailer, come rain or shine. We also distribute reuseable period products from Monmouthshire County Council.
Grub Hub ‘Free Pizza’ –in order to build community food activities over the summer, a series of ‘free pizza’ events were held at the newly built community hub at Kymin View Primary. Within a short timeframe, this project was devised, developed and funding obtained from MCC, all down to the energy of Sarah and her team.
Benthyg Monmouth – our community lending library continued to grow and improve through the year, with 746 loans (2024=697) despite closure following the flood. Each loan represents a saving of money and space for the individual, as well as reduction in waste and carbon emissions, so well done to the volunteer team. During the year we have settled into a shared space with the Fridge, using a reconfigurable room with rolling racking moved according to how the room is being used.
Some items have grown in popularity, like the apple press loaning out an amazing ten times over the autumn following a bumper crop. Many of the popular items are stored at floor level and were unfortunately lost to water damage; carpet cleaners, jet washers, dehumidifiers and gazebos. Working with MCC and other Monmouthshire branches, we are slowly building back our stock of items to meet demand now and that expected increase through the spring months.
We want to rebuild momentum following the closure, through social media, banners and other promotional activities.
Wyesham Woods – there has been a resurgence of activity by local volunteers who maintain the woodland off Wyesham Road and run community events there. New benches have been installed and an improved management plan is being formulated as the previous one reaches expiry. In addition, the adjacent bus shelter has been cleaned and an activity underway to install panels of artwork depicting animals and woodlands.
Green Spaces – this covers a number of planting schemes and activities around the town contributing to improved biodiversity, natural flood management and other sustainability aims. Here is a flavour of the activities;
Review – in April we conducted a review of over 20 projects to get an overview of the status of each and future progression [see website for link].
Wye Bridge Street Carpark – renewal of the planting beds with more appropriate species and tree planting to cover losses.
Wyesham Green – underplanting of the trees and within the tall grass area to encourage biodiversity
Community Orchard – seasonal tree pruning used as a training session by Helena
Monmouth Comp Kitchen Garden – maintained while in discussion to move management to the school
Plant of the Month – Helena has been educating us with a monthly look at native plants
Information – we considered better ways to communicate the natural benefits of longer grass, fallen fruit and less tidy green spaces. We went on to develop a flyer for the community orchard in particular.
Events & Collaborations – our projects don’t run in isolation and we worked with many other organisations throughout the year;
Plant swap/Coffee mornings – these events held at the Priory are very much a social occasion with good visitor engagement, many of which go away with books, plants and advice on top of a better understanding of Transition. We work with Fairtrade Tools and Tools for Self-Reliance and the event draws a large number of people.
Seed Swap – supporting the ACE Monmouth February event, we engaged with a large number of visitors on all things seed and plant related. We promoted our individual projects and dispensed much gardening and planting advice.
Climate Festival – organised by ACE Monmouth around the theme of ‘make do and mend’, we were able to promote the Community Fridge and Benthyg Monmouth.
Apple Pressing – a bumper crop this year brough huge fruit volumes and many people to this fun event. It is family friendly and everyone is encouraged to join in the juicing process.
Guided Nature Walks – Helena organises walk across a range of habitats and explains the significance and challenges of each.
Balsam Bashing – following a training session with Wye Valley National Landscapes (AONB), we ‘adopted’ a section of riverbank below the Wye Bridge to concentrate on removing the invasive species Himalayan Balsam.
Nearly New Sale – this biannual event is gaining momentum and saw 121 adults buying pre-loved items at Bridges Centre.
Fresk – we attended this Big Green Week event coordinated by Sarah from ACE. It raises awareness about climate change through a collaborative game based on 42 cards, which become arranged to reveal interconnected cause and effect loops.
Water Treatment Works – a group undertook a guided tour of the Mayhill site operated by Welsh Water. We learnt about the multi stage process of turning river water into drinking water. The hosts answered our many questions and we went away with a better understanding of the operational trade-offs and constraints of the site.
Schools Climate Collaboration – a number of members supported an event organised by Haberdashers’ School and attended by the Monmouth cluster primary schools. They worked through eight key areas related to climate change to arrive at a headline ambition for action.
It should be clear from this brief summary that our projects and events reach across our community to a great many people, all building resilient and sustainable communities. This is down to the efforts of members, volunteers and coordinators and for this you should all be proud of another successful year. I’d particularly like to thank my fellow officers Helena Ronicle (Deputy Chair) and Claudia Blair (Treasurer) for all the work that goes on in the background to make this happen
Bryan Miller
Chair – Transition Monmouth – Jan 2026
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