The Wirksworth initiative started in late 2009 or early 2010, with public meetings held in spring 2010. It incorporated the earlier group Sustainable Wirksworth.

We have a core group and sub groups for energy, growers, reduce/re-use/recycling, and textiles. We will have more when people show interest. We also have links with Stoneywood, a local community woodland and open space which used to be a limestone quarry.

The most active groups are the Growers, who created a community garden on a site offered by the railway, coordinate a garden sharing project, are looking for land for allotments and have built links with the local junior school and the local care home for older people. The Reduce, Reuse & Recycling group, nicknamed the Rubbish Group, have been campaigning to reduce plastic bag usage locally, selling cloth bags through local shops, putting on Give or Take events, decorating a Christmas tree with ornaments made from waste materials and making contact with local schools.  The Textiles Group runs a weekly session at the Derbyshire Eco Centre for learning textiles skills. The Energy Group is developing an extra-low-energy solar-powered street light to be tested out locally. It is also working on a survey to be made of residents’ energy use with a view to making people aware of ways to reduce energy. It influenced the energy aspects of the proposed Wirksworth Neighbourhood Plan which is under consultation, July 2014. The Core Group raises awareness locally, mainly through organising local public meetings on key issues.

The main point of contact is one member of the Core Group.  (The others don’t show because they are not yet registered on the Transition Network.)