Community action/Stroud
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| Location | Stroud, Gloucestershire, South West England |
| Coordinates | 51° 44' 43.53" N, 2° 13' 11.50" W |
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 Stroud.
News
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Recalling two years of radical experiment in participatory democracy, the Stroud Area Assembly wishes you a “Radical Restmas”, Daily Alternative (Dec 15, 2024) - This is what democracy looks like, parentsforfuturestroud.wordpress.com/ (Dec 11, 2024)
- “We live in a mere shadow of the world we could have”. Dil Green—building commons by means of housing and local trading, in Stroud and Liverpool—has a pathway, Daily Alternative (Nov 03, 2024)
- Solving the housing crisis via the commons, By Dil Green, resilience.org (Aug 23, 2024)
- Stroud Housing Commons: latest developments, lowimpact.org (May 08, 2024)
- The English restaurant turning hospitality on its head, positive.news (May 27, 2026) — At a pay-as-you-can restaurant in Stroud, radical hospitality and good food are bringing strangers together
- The pollution court case that could reach far beyond the banks of the River Wye, theconversation.com (Oct 22, 2025)
- Life lessons for a living world in the Forest of Dean, thenews.coop (Aug 16, 2025) — Community benefit society Wylderne has taken ownership of a wilderness education centre and is putting co-op principles into action
- The climate cafe where misery is 'empowering', BBC News (Jul 26, 2026)
- The UK birth, death, and rebirth of the local market, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Jul 23, 2026)
- Across parties, across postcodes, ffcc.co.uk (Jul 17, 2026) — British people want government action on food
- May and June heatwaves killed about 2,700 people in England and Wales, data suggests, theguardian.com (Jul 13, 2026) — Extreme heat led to 440 deaths a day during June peak, say scientists, with climate crisis ramping up temperatures
- Europe's heatwave linked to 1,300 deaths, WHO says, as Germany hits record 41.7C, BBC News (Jun 28, 2026)
- European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say, theguardian.com (Jun 26, 2026) — Study also finds high humidity means people in hundreds of cities are enduring their worst ever heat stress
- Conservationists urge caution over Bangladesh’s plan to plant 250 million trees, Abu Siddique, news.mongabay.com (Jul 20, 2026)
- The politics of heat, where “voters are greener than politicians, the media—even we ourselves—seem willing to admit” [The Break-Down], Daily Alternative (Jul 18, 2026)
- "What is flourishing? A life in many keys.” From Pavel Luksha's Protopia Futures, Daily Alternative (Jul 17, 2026)
Networks and sustainability initiatives
[edit | edit source]Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Community action/Manchester, Community action/Essex, Community action/West Sussex / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism
UK and international events
[edit | edit source]UK events
Jul 1 - 14, 2026 (Wed - Tue) — Community Energy Fortnight, communityenergyengland.org- Jul 02, 2026 (Thu) — Cycle to Work Day, cyclescheme.co.uk
- Jul 17 - Aug 9, 2026 (Fri - Sun) — Big Butterfly Count, bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
- Jul 19 - 25, 2026 (Sun - Sat), The theme for 2026 is JOY — Community Centre Week, octopuscommunities.org.uk
- Jul 24 - Aug 2, 2026 (Fri - Sun) — Love Parks Week, Keep Britain Tidy
Global or international events
- July 2026 — Plastic Free July, plasticfreejuly.org
- Jul 04, 2026 (Sat) — International Day of Cooperatives (CoopsDay), 1st Saturday of July. The celebration aims to showcase co-operatives’ role in building ‘inclusive, resilient, and sustainable communities’, coopsday.coop
- Jul 18, 2026 (Sat) — Mandela Day, global celebration 18 July annually, to honour the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. A call to action for individuals, communities, and organisations to take time to reflect on Mandela's values and principles and to make a positive impact in their own communities, mandeladay.com
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Stroud video
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Community involvement
[edit | edit source]- Stroud Area Assembly, a collaboration of governance practitioners, community development leaders and movement builders, and part of the work of Parents for Future Stroud and a national initiative, ‘Lifehouses – Collapse Preparing Communities’. Citizens’. "We are also linked with other UK networks and an internationalist solidarity movement. Citizens’ Assemblies are shorthand for wide ranging reform of democratic systems." Added 17:45, 18 December 2024 (UTC)
Localism
[edit | edit source]Stroud has a strong community of independent shops and cafés, which provide the mainstay of the retail experience in the town.W
Food activism
[edit | edit source]- The Long Table Stroud, added 16:52, 8 March 2024 (UTC)
- Stroudco Food Hub
- Stroud Community Agriculture Ltd
A farmers' market, launched by Jasper Conran and Isabella Blow on 3 July 1999, takes place every Saturday at the Cornhill market. It was nominated for the national Farmers' Market of the Year in 2001 and won it in 2007 and 2013. It also won the Cotswold Life magazine award for the best farmers' market in Gloucestershire in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010. The market featured in an episode of BBC TV's The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain in September 2009, and won the Best Food Market award at the BBC Food & Farming Awards 2010. It is certified by FARMA.
In addition to the farmers' market there is a smaller market held (Fri & Sat) in The Shambles, an area adjacent to the steep High Street. John Wesley preached from a butcher's block in The Shambles on 26 June 1742. The Old Town Hall is one of the oldest existing buildings in Stroud: originally referred to as the market house, it was built in 1596 and is still in occasional use today. W
- Farmers Markets (in Stroud) information from Stroud District Council
Stroud, a market town in Gloucestershire was one of the birthplaces of the Organic food movement and was home to Britain's first fully organic café, Woodruffs. The Biodynamic Agricultural Association is based in the town. W
Commons
[edit | edit source]- Stroud Commons, group of Stroud residents coming together to build the ‘commons’ economy in Stroud, and to document everything so that it can be implemented in other towns too. added 14:43, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
Arts, sport and culture
[edit | edit source]Stroud has a significant artistic community that dates back to the early 20th century. Jasper Conran called Stroud "the Covent Garden of the Cotswolds"; the Daily Telegraph has referred to it as "the artistic equivalent of bookish Hay-on-Wye"; while the London Evening Standard likened the town to "Notting Hill with wellies". The town has a large and diverse number of creative artists, musicians. W
Community currencies activism
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The Stroud pound is a local currency in use in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. Unveiled on 12 September 2009, the scheme is the third local currency scheme introduced in England in recent years after the Totnes pound and the Lewes pound.
Launched on 12 September 2009, the scheme is an initiative of the local Transition Towns group. Unlike the Totnes pound and the Lewes pound, the Stroud pound is based on the Chiemgauer, a community demurrage currency circulating in the Chiemgau region of Bavaria, Germany since 2003. The Stroud pound has a demurrage rate of 3% every six months. As of April 2010, 30 businesses in Gloucestershire are enrolled in the programme.
On the day of the launch, local currency with a face value of over 1,000 Stroud pounds was sold.
However, in 2011 only £4,000 worth of Stroud pounds were issued. Some local businesses complained about the hassle and said customers still supported them but preferred to use sterling.
In 2015 a discussion on a possible re-launch was held.
One of the founders, Molly Scott Cato said in 2016 that the currency was "never viable", since there was not enough currency in circulation, compared to the Bristol pound.
As of November 2019 the website had not been updated since 2012, but Stroud Pound Co-op Ltd still exists.
Sustainable transport activism
[edit | edit source]The Cotswold Canals Trust is a British registered charity that aims to protect and restore the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames and Severn Canal. Formed in 1972, the organisation has a goal to restore navigability on the two waterways between Saul Junction and the River Thames. Since then, it has overseen restoration of the waterways, with many bridges, locks, and cuttings being rebuilt and reinstated.
In 2021, the charity was awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service for "regenerating a 36-mile canal corridor, engaging communities and reviving heritage and wildlife". W
News archive
[edit | edit source]2016-2023
- The Stroud Commons aims to shift housing, energy, land, food, water, transport, social care & the means of exchange into community ownership, The Daily Alternative (Jul 08, 2023)
- Stroud Commons part 1: We’re putting our house into the ‘commons’. Follow our progress and replicate it in your community, lowimpact.org (Jan 08, 2023)
- How Stroud council is encouraging renewables in its Local Plan, takeclimateaction.uk (Mar 09, 2022)
- Seeds of the people: how communities are protecting the future of food, positive.news (Apr 27, 2021)
- Have your say on how developments in Stroud should promote sustainable construction, Nov 10, 2016...stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk
- New Green council chairman Norman Kay partners with climate change awareness project Transition Stroud, May 24, 2016...stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk
- An evening in Stroud: '10 years and beyond', May 9, 2016...Transition Network
About Stroud
[edit | edit source]Past events
- Oct 1 - 8, 2016, Stroud Valleys Showcase
- June 27 - 28, 2015, Edible Open Gardens
- February 7, 2015, Stroud Potato Day
- May 3 - 4, 2014, Stroud Eco Open Homes 2014
Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021.
Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets. The Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty surrounds the town, and the Cotswold Way path passes by it to the west. It lies 10 miles (16 km) south of the city of Gloucester, 14 miles (23 km) south-southwest of Cheltenham, 13 miles (21 km) west-northwest of Cirencester and 26 miles (42 km) north-east of the city of Bristol. London is 91 miles (146 km) east-southeast of Stroud and the Welsh border at Whitebrook, Monmouthshire, is 19 miles (31 km) to the west. Though officially not part of the town itself, the contiguous civil parishes of Rodborough and Cainscross form part of Stroud's urban area and are generally recognised as suburbs.
Stroud acts as a commercial centre for surrounding villages and market towns including Amberley, Bisley, Bussage, Chalford, Dursley, Eastcombe, Eastington, King's Stanley, Leonard Stanley, Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Oakridge, Painswick, Randwick, Selsley, Sheepscombe, Slad, Stonehouse, Brimscombe & Thrupp, Whiteshill and Woodchester.
In March 2021 The Sunday Times named Stroud the best place to live in the UK, citing the town's abundance of green spaces, independent spirit, and high quality of schools.
Near you
[edit | edit source]Gloucestershire community action
External links
- Wikipedia: Stroud, Campaigns
- Stroud Town Council, link checked 15:08, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
- Stroud District Council, link checked 15:08, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
| Authors | Phil Green |
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| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Cite as | Philralph (2023–2026). "Community action/Stroud". Appropedia. Retrieved July 29, 2026. |