So many people crowded into All Saints Church Centre on the evening of February 18 that organisers had to rush to find extra chairs to accommodate them all.

The draw was the launch of Headley Village Greening Campaign, organised by Headley Climate Action Network (HeadleyCAN).

During the evening the audience heard poetry about climate change from three children and then details of the greening campaign itself.

This is a lottery-funded initiative for 20 Hampshire communities which will give them expert advice and support in order to ‘green’ their local areas.

The experts will be supporting the Headley villagers in five specific ways: to grow food, reduce energy consumption, reduce waste, stay healthy in the world’s changing climate and change the use of spaces in the village to encourage nature.

Locals who sign up to be involved can choose one of these five areas to specialise in and will meet regularly to learn and decide what can be done.

Cressida Lindsay, a member of HeadleyCAN, said: “It’s so energising to see how many neighbours and locals are ready to get involved and make our community more resilient to climate change. I’m really looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning together.”

The local initiative is supported by Headley Parish Council and the Fullers Vale Wildlife Pond Association.

The Greening Campaign was founded in 2008 by Terena Plowright, then living in Petersfield, to spread the ‘green’ message beyond those who were already convinced of its importance.

She also saw the effect of giving clear advice and ideas on how to save money and help the environment. As people learned to make small changes, they wanted to do more with their community and from this the idea for five specific areas of change, known as ‘pillars’, was born

HeadleyCAN can be contacted on [email protected].