National Composting Conference

10 volunteers from Shropshire and Telford Master Composters travelled down to the Garden Organic in Warwickshire this weekend. There they joined around 200 volunteers from all over the UK for the 4th annual National Home Composting Conference.  The group travelled down in a bus provided by Minsterley Motors, with sponsorship from Veolia, the Councils waste management contractor.

The group went to meet up with volunteers from other similar volunteer schemes all around the country in order to exchange best practice and encourage joint working.   They heard all about the technical aspects of composting from eminent guest speakers from the Royal Horticultural Society, Garden Organic, University of Plymouth, Campaign for Real Farming and the Waste & Resource Action Programme. 

Several of the volunteers were presented with official graduation certificates in recognition of their success in volunteering for more than 30 hours to encourage others to compost.  One of the Shropshire volunteers - Linda Sheppard, was also presented with a special award - the "Individual Achievement Award" for her outstanding contribution to helping to get more people home composting.

Shropshire Master Composters (www.shropshirecomposters.co.uk) are a group of expert home composters with enthusiasm for helping others to learn about composting, they were established by Shropshire Council in 2006.  Since then almost 100 volunteers have been trained to go into their communities and spread the word about composting and waste reduction.  The Master Composters give up their time free of charge promote home composting through events, home visits, demonstrations, talks, roadshows and school visits.  This helps to reduce waste and reduce the need for artificial fertilisers as well as fostering community cohesion and lifelong learning - truly the big society in action...