Community action/Frome
The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Frome.
News
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Share offer for UK’s biggest community development passes first target, thenews.coop (Aug 20, 2026) - Frome residents win five-year battle for community-led housing project, theguardian.com (Jan 23, 2025) — “What’s really exciting for me is that it’s not actually about the amount of commercial space or the affordable housing it will provide – it’s about the sense of confidence and agency and possibility that I think it will give us as a community.” Fiona Barrows, Frome town councillor
- The Tories are tearing themselves apart over housing – but this is another crisis of their own making, John Harris, The Guardian (Nov 27, 2022)
- Businesses face extinction unless they protect nature, major report warns, BBC News (Feb 09, 2026)
- Enlisting hearts and minds to save Somerset’s last eels, positive.news (Aug 18, 2025)
- New national forest to see 20m trees planted, BBC News (Mar 21, 2025)
- Plans for major overhaul of councils halted, BBC News (Sep 07, 2026)
- Sardines are having a moment but could this humble fish turn the tide for the UK’s local fisheries?, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Sep 03, 2026) — Can the UK learn from Iberian traditions and turn its booming love for tinned sardines into a lasting win for coastal communities?
- Andy Burnham announces thousands of new homes, but is the government much closer to its target?, theconversation.com (Sep 02, 2026)
- European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves, theguardian.com (Aug 17, 2026)
- Europe’s rivers are running dry, and the knock-on effects are disastrous, Yiannis Baboulias, theguardian.com (Aug 05, 2026)
- How Australia combines modern tech and Indigenous knowledge to fight wildfires, BBC News (Aug 01, 2026)
- Climate solutions most likely to reach ‘positive tipping points’ revealed by scientists, theguardian.com (Sep 10, 2026) — Global shift towards clean electricity could trigger ‘cascade’ of progress, helping reduce air pollution, cut waste and revive oceans
- Why I choose to build commons, rather than being an ‘activist’, growingcommons.substack.com (Sep 06, 2026) — And why I think you should, too, Dil Green
- What Brazil’s supercentenarians can teach us about living to 120, positive.news (Sep 02, 2026)
Networks and sustainability initiatives
[edit | edit source]- Frome Neighbourhood Network, frometowncouncil.gov.uk, added 15:04, 14 December 2020 (UTC)
- Sustainable Frome
Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Community action/Moray, Rewilding Scotland, Community action/Wiltshire / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
UK and international events
[edit | edit source]UK events
Sep 7 - 11, 2026 (Mon-Fri) — Zero Waste Week, zerowasteweek.co.uk- Sep 11 - 20, 2026 (Fri-Sun) — Heritage Open Days, celebrating our fantastic history and culture. Your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore, heritageopendays.org.uk
- Sep 18 - 27, 2026 (Fri-Sun) — Great British Beach Clean, mcsuk.org
Global or international events
- Sep 15, 2026 (Tue) — Free Money Day, Global invitation for people to explore, in a liberating and fun way, what it might be like if our relationship to money was a little different. Sep 15, annually, freemoneyday.org
- Sep 18, 2026 (Fri) — Park(ing) day, global, public, participatory project where people across the world temporarily repurpose curbside parking spaces and convert them into public parks and social spaces to advocate for safer, greener, and more equitable streets for people, myparkingday.org
- Sep 21-27, 2026 (Mon-Sun) — Global Week Of Action For Peace And Climate Justice, climatemilitarism.org
- Sep 21, 2026 (Mon) — International Day of Peace, Globally shared date, Sep 21 each year for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace, internationaldayofpeace.org
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Frome video
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Community involvement
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The civil parish of Frome has adopted the style of a town, and there is a Town Council of 17 members. In May 2019 all 17 council members elected were members of the Independents for Frome party (ifF). W The Town Council has been involved in a number of sustainability orientated initiatives, see subsequent sections.
- Have your say 2019 Frome Town Council
- Independents for Frome
- Breaking the Mould, One Day Conference held at Frome Town Hall, April 2018
- Participatory Budgeting Frome
- Frome Town Council
see also:
- Community involvement UK, Flatpack democracy
- Flatpack Democracy Civic Politics Revolution in Frome, wiki.p2pfoundation.net
Food activism
[edit | edit source]Food Frome, food heritage society - Frome Allotments - Incredible Edible Frome
The Town Council installed the first community fridge in the country in May 2016; 90,000 items a year have been saved from landfill. This was joined by a community larder in October 2017.
Frome has an online market, the Food Hub launched in November 2018, where sustainable supplies from local farmers and food producers can be sourced, either for collection or by delivery (central Frome only). W
Housing and land
[edit | edit source]- Frome Area Community Land Trust, creating fairer housing for Frome. added 11:13, 4 February 2025 (UTC)
Towards sustainable economies
[edit | edit source]- Loop:Frome, added 09:45, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
- Edventure Frome, school for community enterprise, added 17:05, 16 March 2021 (UTC)
Community resources
[edit | edit source]SHARE: a Library of Things, Frome
In early 2015, the UK's first high street Library of Things was set up in the town. In one year (May 2018 to April 2019), use of the shop helped avoid 92 tonnes CO2e of greenhouse gas emissions, saved 117,000 kg of material usage and avoided 10 tonnes of manufacturing waste. In the same period its members collectively saved £66,800 by borrowing instead of buying items. W
Health and wellbeing
[edit | edit source]A project, Compassionate Frome, to combat loneliness in the town was established by a local GP in 2013. It is claimed that it reduced emergency hospital admissions by 17% over three years when in the rest of the county they rose by 29%. W
Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle
[edit | edit source]- Loop:Frome, new community start-up rethinking resource. "By closing Frome's food waste loop and transforming this resource into a living, nutrient-dense compost, we are contributing towards the town's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. As well as creating sustainable and regenerative infrastructures." added 16:24, 27 January 2022 (UTC)
Climate action
[edit | edit source]- Imagining a better future for Frome, Oct 17, 2019 Frome Town Council
Ethical consumerism
[edit | edit source]Sustainable transport activism
[edit | edit source]The Town Council employs a resilience officer, one of only two at town council or parish level in the country; a principal task is to support the strategic priorities for transport. Initiatives include a public-access car club, operated by the social enterprise Co-wheels. Electric charging points are available at the Cheese and Grain, the Town Hall, the Football Club and Frome Medical Practice. W
Frome is an accredited Walkers are Welcome town since 2018. An extensive list of walks and guides is available. Guided walks on a range of topics are now online. W
Cycling activism
[edit | edit source]Two cycling clubs operate in the town: the Frome CTC, nicknamed the Coffee and Tea-Cake Club, and the Frome & District Wheelers. E-bikes are available for hire, courtesy of a Town Council initiative. W
Urban sustainability
[edit | edit source]- Mayday Saxonvale, "not-for-profit social enterprise, with the sole objective of delivering a sustainable plan for Saxonvale governed by the needs, priorities, and aspirations of our town." Mayday Saxonvale on youtube.com, added 16:11, 29 January 2025 (UTC)
Environment quality
[edit | edit source]On 13 December 2017 the Town Council unanimously agreed to become a 'single-use plastic'-free council. W
Open spaces
[edit | edit source]There are a number of public green spaces within the town, both formal and informal; some are substantial such as the Victoria Park or the Rodden Meadow; others may be smaller but are valued within their neighbourhoods, such as Weylands or the Dippy. Many of the public spaces have organised litter picks, arranged by local community groups. W
River action
[edit | edit source]- Friends of the River Frome, community group of volunteers, and registered charity, that works to improve, protect and celebrate the Somerset river Frome. "We do everything from river clean ups and water testing, to negotiating with developers to protect the river." added 11:27, 4 February 2025 (UTC)
About Frome
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Frome ( FROOM) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills on the River Frome, 13 miles (21 km) south of Bath. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 28,567.
Frome was one of the largest towns in Somerset until the Industrial Revolution. It first grew due to the wool and cloth industry, and later diversified into metal-working and printing. The town was enlarged during the 20th century but retains a large number of listed buildings, and most of the centre falls within a conservation area.
The town has road and rail transport links and acts as an economic, sporting and cultural centre for the surrounding area, including the annual Frome Festival and Frome Museum.
Frome archive
[edit | edit source]Video archive
- Edventure - What our students say, 2018, youtube.com
- Share - A library of Things by Edventure Frome, Frome Town Council and the Cheese and Grain. 2015. youtube.com
- Frome Open Homes 2014, youtube.com
Past events
- 2012, Independence Day - Frome
News archive
Local councils can be both arrogant and enabling. They chop down the trees overnight in Doncaster …and ask the citizens to plan their foliage and foresting in Frome, Nov 23, 2020...thealternative.org.uk
- If a corporation can have "legal personhood", so can a river. And not just the River Ganges... but the River Frome too...The Alternative UK, Sep 10, 2019
- The town that's found a potent cure for illness – community, George Monbiot, Feb 21, 2018...The Guardian
- From the pub to the Town Council: on how citizens took control of local politics, Peter MacFadyen, Apr 6, 2017...citiesintransition.eu
- Can Frome become UK's first fossil fuel free town? Feb 23, 2016...frometimes.co.uk
- Frome Wins The Great Town Award, November 6, 2015...Permaculture Magazine
- A Library of Things Puts Frome On the Map as a Sharing Town, June 10, 2015...Shareable
- How Flatpack Democracy beat the old parties in the People's Republic of Frome, May 22, 2015...The Guardian
- UK's first SHARE shop to open in Frome, April 21, 2015...Frome Times
- Peter MacFadyen on Independents for Frome, June 8, 2014...Transition Network
News sources
- Articles mentioning Frome from the Daily Alternative
Near you
[edit | edit source]| Authors | Phil Green |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-4.0 |
| Cite as | Philralph (2020–2025). "Community action/Frome". Appropedia. Retrieved September 13, 2026. |