About us

Members Profile

Barry Smale

Worked for 25 years in IT industry as a Sales and Marketing Director. Currently working as a consultant helping companies understand and improve their key relationships. Trained as a psychotherapist 10 years ago and now also working in a psychiatric hospital working with people with problems around trauma and addiction.

Interested in finding practical ways of making useful changes in my life. Happily finding the Transition project is a good way of bringing together some disparate skills and interests.

Judy Smale

Computer Science degree and MBA. Working in product marketing on communication technologies with particular interest in those that reduce carbon footprint. Worked on and chaired primary school PTA. Newly formed passion for playing Ladies cricket.

Derek Smith

Worked as a professional engineer for oil and gas design contractor, now retired.

I was the first Chair of Mole Valley LA21. I am an active member of Surrey Green Party and helped found Green Mole Forum, a resource to promote a sustainable Mole Valley (Ashtead is in Mole Valley).

I have given over 30 climate change awareness presentations in Mole Valley.

 

Chris Ellis

Originally working in biochemical research having graduated from Southampton University (Physiology & biochemistry), a career break looking after children and time spent as a Relate councillor was followed by various roles in data analysis before retiring from the role of Area Programme Manager at the Rural Housing Trust.

Currently volunteering for an IT training project with Senior citizens and maintaining a productive garden.

 

 

 

Irena McKay

Irena McKay has worked in disability welfare rights, as a freelance artist, and more recently teaching English and Teacher Training in a local college. She is interested in permaculture and traditional crafts.

Sarah Pomeroy

Humanities/Education degree from University of London, Goldsmiths College. Various strange & wonderful jobs. Now a Primary school teacher; originally class-based, now teaching curriculum music using Kodaly/aural-vocal approach; also worked as consultant for the Voices Foundation. Passion for gardening.

Tony Cooper

Worked in IT for a large UK company until taking early retirement in 2002. Has been an active climate-change campaigner and an active Green Party member for twenty years. Is currently also secretary of the Mole Valley LETS (Local Exchange Trading system).

Sarah Jane Weston

Currently working for mental health organisation as an Employment Advisor, Youth worker part time and I am an active local musician. Degree from Southampton University in Music and Management Sciences and also studied at Trinity College of Music. Now studying Fundraising and NVQ in Advice and Guidance. Interested in developing community and raising awareness through local art and has TT contacts in New Zealand.

Kenn Jordan

I am a trained graphic designer with over 25 years experience of digital/online marketing and design. Having managed new media departments for many of the top agencies, I now consult on digital branding and marketing while also running a photographic agency.

I created and administer the Transition Ashtead Website, Facebook group and Twitter page. I’m a keen cook and have a great interest in growing my own food.

Helen Millar

Business Degree from Trinity College Dublin. I became interested in green issues after graduation when I worked on an environmental project to reduce and improve packaging materials used by Microsoft to comply with German and European regulations – this demonstrated that going green in business can save money whilst reducing impact on the environment. I also lived in Germany for 4 years where green issues have been mainstream for years.

Worked for last 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry in various sales and marketing roles. My interests include photography, biking, cooking and just started gardening.

Transition Ashtead – How It Started

The first step in the process that led to Transition Ashtead was the founding of Green Mole Forum (GMF) in January 2008.  The aim of GMF is to promote sustainable development in Mole Valley, mainly by maintaining a website that enables local groups in Mole Valley to promote their events and discuss topical issues.

The founding meeting of GMF discussed transition as something that GMF could possibly get involved in, but nothing was decided.

Transition got back on the GMF agenda some months later when Andy Tanner joined GMF.  Andy is the Chair of Dorking DNA (Dorking Needs Action) and had recently been to a presentation by Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition Movement.

Inspired by Rob’s talk, he appealed to the other GMF members to help start a transition initiative for Mole Valley.  The first meeting to discuss this was on 10th September and attended by Andy Tanner, Esther Phillips and myself.

The second meeting attracted two more, including Chris Ellis of Ashtead, and a third in November attracted several new people from Dorking.  This was a key meeting as it decided to abandon the idea of having one Transition Initiative for the whole of Mole Valley, and instead have smaller initiatives for the various main communities in the area.  Most people at the meeting were from Dorking and so they agreed that their next meeting would be the start of Transition Dorking.

That left Chris Ellis and I on our own wondering what to do in the north end of Mole Valley.  We envisaged there probably needs to be three separate initiatives for Ashtead, Leatherhead and Bookham, and decided to set about starting Transition Ashtead.

Our first meeting was in January 2009 attended by four people.  Chris wrote an article for the March 2009 Ashtead Local appealing for people to join, and this helped attract 8 people to our next meeting on 8th April 2009.

Transition Ashtead formally got going at our meeting on 21st April 2009 when we appointed officers, agreed a set of aims and principles and decided to apply to the Transition Network to be an official Transition Initiative.

Derek Smith

Secretary, Transition Ashtead

View Ashtead, Surrey on a map

Transition Ashtead Initiating Group – Aims and Principles

Underlying Beliefs

The members of the Transition Ashtead Initiating Group (TAIG) share the following beliefs:

• Climate Change and Peak Oil require urgent action

• life with less energy is inevitable and it is better to plan for it than be taken by surprise

• society has lost the resilience to be able to cope with energy shocks

• we have to act together and we have to act now

• if we plan and act early enough, and use our creativity and co-operation to harness and develop the skills within our local communities, then we can build a sustainable future that can be fulfilling and enriching.

Aims

The ultimate aim of the TAIG is to establish a Transition Initiative in Ashtead in accordance with the 12 Step Process described in the Transition Handbook.  The TAIG will carry out the following first five steps of this process.

1. Set up the initiating group and design its demise from the outset.

We intend that once a minimum of four working groups (see aim 5) have been formed, the Initiating Group will disband and be replaced by a new Transition Ashtead Core Group.  This will include representatives of each of the working groups.

2. Awareness raising

We will raise awareness in Ashtead of the issues of peak oil and climate change by such means as: public meetings, articles in local papers, presentations to community groups and schools, establishing a Transition Ashtead website.

3. Working with existing groups

We will network with existing groups and activists, and seek to work with all individuals and groups whose activities are compatible with our aims.  (Note: This step is called ‘Lay the foundations’ in the Transition Handbook.)

4. Organise a Great Unleashing

When the TAIG judges that there is sufficient support and interest, it will organise a ‘Great Unleashing’ event.  This will create a memorable milestone to mark the Transition Ashtead’s “coming of age”, moves it right into the community at large, builds a momentum to propel Transition Ashtead forward for its next period of its work, and celebrates Ashtead’s desire to take action.

5. Form working groups

TAIG will encourage the formation of working groups to focus on specific aspects of the process and initiate appropriate actions.  Possible subjects for working groups are local food production, home energy saving, local energy generation, handicraft skills, waste reduction and re-use.

Principles

The members of TAIG will comply with the following principles when working for TAIG:

• We will not use TAIG to pursue party political or purely commercial objectives.
• We will be transparent in all our actions and in the circulation of information.
• All work will be on a voluntary non-for-profit basis
• We will be practical and set credible achievable goals.
• We will act ethically and responsibly in our individual lives to preserve the trust that may be put into the transition initiative.

Agreed at meeting 21 April 2009