• Kingston Green Fair - Monday 26th May Bank Holiday
• Wandle Meditation Group - beginning 3rd May
• South London Inter-LETS

Every year on the second bank holiday in May the gentle folk of Kingston organise one of the best one - day green events in the country, which I'm happy to report will be back to it's old venue on the banks of the Thames for 2008.

This year we have decided, in association with Kingston LETS, to set up a general LETS information area at the event. The plan is to have a large gazebo containing a 'how LETS works' display along with a small team of people who will be available to answer basic questions about LETS and hopefully sign up lots of new members ! We are hoping to create a team of between four and eight people for the day from both of our schemes who will run the area on a rota basis, probably with a pair of people present for each of four two - hour shifts. So if you would like to get involved in spreading the good news about LETS and have the opportunity to meet some members of a neighbouring LETS scheme - while having the chance to attend what should be a most interesting and entertaining event - then please do get in touch with us!

We are hoping to have free entry for helpers on our team (who will also receive a payment in Ecos for their time helping out). We are also looking to arrange for other LETS members to be able pay for their entry at the gate in LETS units. If you wish to come to the event as a punter and pay your entrance fee in Ecos you will need to contact me (before the third week of May) so that I can let the organisers know who will be paying in this way.

For more information about the Kingston Green Fair click here to view their website.

We hope to see you there on the 26th!

John Bradford

If you want to find out more email us at enquiries@wandlelets.co.uk.

As you may remember reading in our recent newsletter John Bradford has decided to initiate a regular week - end outdoor meditation session at Caesar's Well on Wimbledon Common. The sessions are suitable for both beginners and more experienced meditators and will focus on three meditation techniques from the Buddhist tradition - although you do not need to have any interest in Buddhism or indeed any other particular religious tradition derive some benefit from them.

The current plan is to meet up every Saturday (weather permitting) at a small car park close to Caesar's Well at 11:15, for a two hour session from 11:30 to 1:30, there will be signs left up to direct any latecomers to the well from the car park - which itself is quite easy to find. Payment is by donation (Ecos if you prefer).

The car park can be reached from the bottom south east corner of the Wimbledon Common - adjacent to the war memorial at the end of Wimbledon High Street - from here you continue on across the common via the Causeway single track road, past the Fox and Grapes pub, and on around the bend of Camp Road to the gate to the right of the golf club entrance which leads on to Sunset Road (also known as Robin Hood Road). Continue walking along this path, with the golf course on either side, for about five minutes and this will lead you to the small car park just before another gate.

Each session begins with a brief introductory talk about the practice by John, this is followed by a short led meditation of around 15 minutes which is in turn followed by a brief discussion / question and answer session about the meditation for a further 20 minutes or so. Finally, after optional break, there is a concluding 30 minute meditation session with an optional report back to finish. John is advising anyone who wishes to come to bring one of those cheap 'folding chairs' that fit into a long back pack type holder - you often find them in garages, hardware shops, argos stores and even some supermarkets, usually on sale for around £5 to £10. You may also like to bring a cushion for comfort. John also recommends bringing a wide brimmed hat to protect you from the powerful midday sun which hopefully will be shining!

If you would like to come along to a session please let John know beforehand by email - so that he has an idea of who to expect on the day. You can also use this address if you have any questions about the sessions . If the weather forecast is bad John will phone round everyone who has expressed an interested in attending on the Friday before to let them know it has been cancelled.

If you want to find out more you can also email Wandle LETS at enquiries@wandlelets.co.uk.

In January of 2008 we held the first of what is hoped will be a regular series of meetings involving representatives from some of the LETS schemes operating in our region of London, including Wandle, Croydon, Kingston and Sutton LETS. The idea was to create a forum where we could share ideas and good practice from our respective schemes and see if we could come up with new ideas to help develop our effectiveness, particularly in the areas of attracting new members and promoting higher levels of trading both within and between our different schemes.

As a result we came away from our that first meeting with a substantial list of ideas and areas to explore, if you are a member of Wandle LETS you can find detailed notes from this meeting in our library section.

Recently we held a second meeting which was mostly devoted to exploring practical ways of improving the quality of our publicity and how we might organise a dedicated LETS area at the forthcoming Kingston Green Fair on the 26th May. We have now worked out most of the practicalities of our Green Fair area (please refer to our Kingston Green Fair page for further details and how you can get involved). We also agreed to produce a generic 'introducing LETS' leaflet, for distribution around South London in high volumes, which will include contact details for hopefully most South London LETS schemes (each scheme will be asked to contribute to a proportion of the production costs).

Topics up for discussion at future meetings include how to encourage more LETS trading, the relationship of LETS to regular money, further approaches to publicity and the possible role of LETS in the initiation of local transition town projects (see: http://transitiontowns.org.)

We are hoping to meet again some time in June or July and will let our members know of the specific topics to be looked at closer to the time. Anyone who has a particular interest in the topics under discussion will be welcome to attend, please note we may have to limit numbers attending to not more than around four people from each LETS scheme to facilitate the balance of the discussion.

If you want to find out more email us at enquiries@wandlelets.co.uk.