a wee update on my activism and escapism

I kept my fantastic journey across Europe to Bulgaria and back off social media, I I no longer fly for environmental reasons, if I was doing this journey by bus trains or boats as I have in the past then I would have enjoyed sharing the fun with others on Instagram, but I took a car leaving myself wide open to right wing criticism of hypocrisy, I don’t have the energy to battle that negativity right now! It was a fantastic adventure; I apologise to future generations for the diesel I wasted BUT; be assured the policy makers and transport system designers are responsible for this wastefulness my carbon footprint is tiny in comparison to theirs I made sure I got back from this fun trans-European road trip to veliko Turnovo in Bulgaria -from home and back again, in time to be a Marshall for the first time in my life! after more than 35 years of taking part in running events, I am actively giving something back to the running community, scurry events had asked polmont Community Council for volunteer marshals, they asked Polmont joggers who use the greenpark centre I am a member of both and also trying to save the greenpark community centre from closure, (soon to be called polmont community hub) so; I almost felt an obligation to do this event, which turned out to be very rewarding, There was four of us from polmont Community Groups at four different stations as a green runner, I had some plant based snacks and water in reusable cups ready for the event, I had fun telling people that no animals were harmed in the making of these planet friendly snacks -please ignore the plastic bag, - my chocolate to give away was not only dairy free but; organic and fair trade,
I had a good chat with the organiser of the event via phone then got this lovely email A big thank you to Mike Kenny, Claire and Dougie for your time and energies on the 20th of April and helping make this inaugural Forth Ultra event happen. Without great volunteer marshals these events can't take place so thank you and your time has been well received. I have now transferred £160 as 4 x £40 donations for each of you and hopefully this will help as a start to your Polmont Comm Council - Green Park funds. Assuming I can find a solution to cross the runners between the stadium and the Helix as an alternative to the great underpass they are sadly not reintroducing then it would be great to have you all on board in 2025. The feedback has been very positive so the appetite is definitely there for another event next year :-) and potentially an annual one going forward. I will look forward to future communications. Best Regards Peter Forth Ultra and Team Relay 2024 The underpass he speaks of is one I used regularly - I did not know it was closing! I promised peter I would look into this and report back to him, at present I am looking into the areas traffic free trails, I am actively trying to raise a group to help me with this, a group that can meet at polmont community hub, at present I am playing with the name braes area outdoor sustainable adventure activities group, if you are reading this and - know of anyone else interested in helping me with this project please get in touch, i promise it wioll be fun and rewarding A lot happened with the polmont community hub trustees committee during the time I was travelling across Europe, in short there was a vote on how the community asset should be taken over in parts as a whole, leased or all bought, it sounded like a stressfull meeting as the chairman resigned and as vice chair - I then became the chairman, the secretary is stepping back from the heavy work load, emails were flying progress is being made but things have slightly slowed I also got in touch with business energy Scotland, I had completed a foundation course with them as a green energy champion, I have applied for their help in building a strategy towards the polmont community hubs heat and power as I am planning a carbon net zero power system for the hub, I have a meeting with them next week and also a meeting with utility aid a company which will give us at the hub an in-depth energy usage assessment, with recommendations and potentially fund sources

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