Come and meet us at the weekly Climate Cafe!

We meet regularly on a Tuesday afternoon for a friendly, welcoming chat, if you are brand new to XR or a regular participant in actions, this space is for you. No agenda, just coffee, cake and conversation.

!! Note no meetings in Aug 2024 (but will start again sometime in September)!!

Tuesdays 1-3pm
Usually upstairs in the Malt Cross – feel free to email us and check.

What Regenerative Culture Working Group does:

Regenerative Culture working group meet fortnightly and work on our latest projects. These may include

• Planning workshops to help with rebel self-care and well-being
• Organising social events
• Planning and providing welfare for rebels involved in actions
• Facilitating reflection time after actions

If you want to get in touch or join our WhatsApp group, please contact email hidden; JavaScript is required who will pass on your message.

Regenerative culture encompasses all of XR life, it is in how we respect and treat one another. It comes through in our meetings and campaigns where needs are met at an emotional as well as a physical level. At meetings people have a chance to check in and check out, facilitators ensure that everyone gets a fair chance to speak and that all voices are heard. After campaigns, debrief circles are held in small groups, so that people can share their feelings about all the aspects that have happened. There is a big emphasis on everyone being welcomed. We are all crew!

At its heart XRs Regenerative Culture is about showing caring, respect and sustainability on all levels: It expands out from rebels taking care of themselves, to them taking care of their fellow campaigners and their own communities whilst always thinking how best to respect and sustain our planet.

It is based on natural principles and hence encourages people to think seasonally and cyclically. E.g. actions are planned around the idea that resources need to be gathered, and then once the action has been carried out, there needs to be a built in time for rest and reflection before the new action cycle begins.

Personal Well-being: Helping to save the world starts with looking after yourself so that you then have lots of energy to give to your community and contribute to making the world a better place for others.

This means thinking carefully before saying “yes” to signing up to lots of groups and campaigns. It is best to save some space for some of your other hobbies, family time or just a chance to kip! A rebel that takes care of themselves can then focus in and give some really useful targeted energy to what they choose to get involved with. Join in with what interests you but don’t let it completely overtake your life, or you will find yourself drained and jaded and less use to the group as a whole. If you start to spot the signs that you have bitten off more than you can chew and are feeling overwhelmed, then feel able to ask for support from your fellow rebels…if you realise you have over committed then just ask if someone can take over one of your jobs…being in XR is all about team work, and another time it might be you supporting someone in need.

It is also about rebels taking self-responsibility for their actions. They need to think through what their role in the rebellion is, and what actions they are able to take to be most useful to themselves, their families and others. They also need to be prepared to put their hand up and admit to any actions they have taken.

Rebels need to be aware they too are part of a toxic system and being part of that we will all show elements of hypocrisy between where we are and what we want to achieve. We can only do our best under the system in which we currently live. Over time we may awaken to new ways of being that are less harmful to others and nature, but everyone’s journeys on this path may be different so we need to act without shaming or blaming others.

Support for your community: XR supports each other through their eco grief whilst also celebrating joys and successes together.

Support for National and international XR:
All the local groups in this country and many others are united by XRs 3 demands and 10 principles. At times groups from different areas call on support from their fellow rebels and this allows us to support in a way that goes beyond our locality.

We live on one planet, a planet of finite resources which needs cooperation between lots of nations to achieve ecological and climate balance. Currently XR has members in 72 different countries. Through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter we show solidarity with fellow rebels by sharing their stories and campaigns. This leads to us knowing that we are part of something much wider than ourselves, and it unites us in our aims to get the rest of the world, and their leaders, to learn to live in harmony with our global ecosystems and weather patterns.