Grey Matters

audience Grey Matters is a membership group at Keele for people aged 55+. The purpose of the group is to bring like-minded people together around the theme of sustainability to share knowledge and experience. The project provides a meeting facility and access to education programmes and a route to be actively involved in the Keele Campus Community.

The project was launched at a full day event in November 2011 and has over the year attracted over 100 participants. Events so far have included conference type days looking the key themes:

  • The Gardening Club – a series of talks, invited speakers from the student and academic community, local community and the group itself to share tips, experiences and skills on growing food, composting, etc. Physical, outdoor activities based in the new sustainability hub courtyard, campus grounds and gardens and allotment developments on campus
  • Sustainable Living – a series of invited talks from the academic and local community on how to reduce waste, energy use and energy bills.
  • The Changing Planet – a series of talks, slide shows and activities on subjects ranging from biodiversity and pollution to new technology and space.

The second meeting of the group, Dig It, had a gardening theme and included a series of talks on A Woodland Garden, Marcus Chilton-Jones, Curator, The Dorothy Clive Garden; Growing Healthy Trees, Peter Thomas, Deputy Head of School of Life Sciences at Keele University; Gardening needn’t cost the earth, The North Staffordshire Organic Growers; Food for Free, a workshop for all budding eco-foragers, Joanna Wright, Keele University Sustainability Hub and was run alongside a smaller event:  Go potty!! - workshops and seeds for kids, Sharon George/Joanna Wright, Keele University Sustainability Hub.

grey matters diagram