June 2008:

FREdome got through to the final stage of its application to the National Lottery to scale up to a national operation in order to support the 17 areas across the country who are ready to adopt their own community programmes based on the FREdome model. The remaining 4 areas in the UK will have to be funded by an alternative source.

May 2008:

FREdome-YEA, organised its second awareness/fundraising party at Area Nightclub. The number of youngsters who attended grew from 550 to 770. Not a single problem.

The second Watford Celebration event was held at the Watford Colosseum. Greg Peachey chair of FREdome also chairs the core organising team for Celebration.

April 2008:

C-Green Solutions project was short-listed by NESTA in the semi-finals of the Big Green Challenge. If it is the outright winner, it will receive a prize of £1 million.

March 2008:

FREdome-YEA (Youth Encouraging Adults) organised its first party at Area Nightclub, to raise awareness and funds for C-Green Solutions – a single solution to climate change, the energy crisis, starvation and disease. The Mars Patrol headlined the live music. 550 youngsters took part. All had a brilliant time and the whole even went without a hitch. See the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kwu0QNrnzw

February 2008:

Up and coming indie band, The Mars Patrol, managed by Dave Prowse (“Darth Vader”) and tipped for the top by the News of the World, partnered with FREdome, running a campaign based on their new song “Take a Look at the World”. Listen at www.MySpace.com/TheMarsPatrol

February 2008:


STOP PRESS - New music fun event for Watford youth?

FREdome Youth is keen, organising a fundraising/awareness-raising music event at Area Nightclub in Watford on 25th March 2008. We will bring you more news soon.

January 2008:


FREdome Visionary Trust in Paris - On the 26 January Greg Peachey travelled to the Meridian Hotel Paris, to pitch the FREdome concept to the Best Western hotel chain annual conference. The CEO of Best Western, David Clarke, introduced FREdome as a Corporate Social Responsibility project that hoteliers could adopt on an individual basis.

Enthusiastic response - 20 hoteliers then came forward to Greg expressing interest in adopting a replica model of the FREdome concept in their own areas of the UK. Some of them were highly enthusiastic about working with him and understood exactly how the FREdome approach - combining events, workshops and a local website - could benefit their own businesses by appealing to a huge range of local people . Greg has to contact each of the hoteliers individually to establish a dialogue.

Aiming high - funding from the Lottery has to be won in order to cover the administrative costs of the next stage. Greg is now confident the application can be put together as all the required pieces are in place: "Crucially , we can show the measured benefits of the FREdome model and a proven track record of success in creating tangible results from previous grants" says Greg.

Our young people are amazing: The FREdome Youth team, incorporating the C-Green Solutions project team at St Michaels college has used social networking on Bebo and MySpace. Since early January a jaw-dropping 1572 friends have joined teenage Youth Representatives Jasmine and Sophie in their quest to start a world-wide movement to pressure adults to support research into Carbon Cycling - FREdome's most successful community-changing project to date. "The girls are screening the applicants - most of whom are between 14 and 16 years of age". says Greg. "We can't publicise the site to adults, but any young people can contact me if they want to find out how to join."

It's Our World too Jasmine, Sophie, St Michaels School and a number of FREdome supporters and sponsors have been involved in a big effort to raise £5000 for the C-Green Solutions science project. The team recorded a one-minute video called "It's Our World too" and have entered it for the Bebo 60 Second Challenge - an online competition for funds for youth-led community project ideas. The closing date is Feb 18th. You can view the FREdome entry at www.bebo.com/60seconds The WeCareFREdome team will face a panel of "Dragons" if they get into the final. A fantastic effort - well done all.

November 2007:

On Friday 9th November 2007, young people from St Michael’s College joined Watford business leaders and representatives of the FREdome Visionary Trust gathered at the Best Western White House Hotel in Watford to launch C-Green Solutions - our revolutionary project in support of Global-Eco’s carbon cycling process. The ambitious project aims to eliminate or even reverse the carbon footprint and promote sustainable living, initially by growing high yield, nutritious vegetables in water not soil. The experiment is being promoted by the FREdome Project to raise awareness of the benefits of hydroponic growth, and – with the support of the local community, entrepreneurs and government – to implement hydroponic growth on a scale that will benefit the town's young and destitute. The ultimate aim is to scale up and convert carbon from the air and sea nutrients cyclicly into world resources using the fastest available natural process – photosynthesis by marine microalgae in dilute seawater – on land. Over fifty people attended the event including young people from the school, teachers, representatives and sponsors from the local business community.

The afternoon was introduced by Charlie Kenny, Business Network International plc - Regional Director for Herts & Beds. He called the project “A launch pad for the community’s most beneficial idea.” Jasmine, FREdome Youth Leader gave a young person’s perspective on the world problems that the project sets out to resolve. Greg Peachey recounted how the young people at a community workshop selected and adapted this as the idea with the best potential to tackle the world issues that their generation will otherwise inherit. He went on to explain the concept itself. Harry Hart, the 77-year old originator of the Carbon Cycling Process, travelled from his home in Suffolk to give the details of the process, answer questions, meet the young people and wish them well. Hertfordshire-born Harry, has accumulated a huge amount of research data which he hopes to be able to pass onto the young people.

Summing up his impressions at the close of the evening, Tony Poole, Chair of Watford Borough Council, said, “This is an idea that attacks problems that are becoming ever-more urgent. If this research can bear fruit then it can make a real difference, but you will have to overcome the natural suspicion that it’s too good to be true.”

For more information about the project, visit www.c-greensolutions.com

October 2007:
At a FREdome management meeting, the top community project was formally planned:
“C-GreenSolutions – Carbon Recycling Project” (See www.c-greensolutions.com) This aims to convert atmospheric carbon and sea nutrients into world resources using the fastest possible natural processes. It will start at a local level with a global outlook. Initially it will involve local young people (especially the disadvantaged) improving their own nutrition and growing nourishing foods for the local homeless and destitute, at the same time proving a process to tackle climate change, world starvation and the energy crisis in one go. There is a person-millennium of research behind this (30 qualified individuals working for 30+ years).

Great Stuff Hydroponics offered to donate the initial equipment required, and Ocean Grown offered to donate the initial sea nutrients. Top Position is following the project and publishing series of media releases. Dr Tony Miller of Rothamsted Research will provide practical guidance.

September 2007:
A presentation was held at Watford Campus to report back and thank sponsors of the Celebration event and follow-on community programme. Elected Mayor of Watford, Dorothy Thornhill, presented the sponsorship certificates.

On 01 Sep 2007 the interactive Ideas Website was delivered to St Michael’s Catholic High School and Specialist Humanities College for internal trials.

August 2007:
During the Summer Holidays a group of young people met twice to exercise the interactive FREdome Ideas Website.

The FREdome Visionary Trust took a stall at the Family Fun Day held at Stanborough Park, WATFORD to feedback the latest FREdome news to the local community.

July 2007:
THURSDAY 12th JULY 2007: AGM, 7-9 PM AT THE HOLYWELL COMMUNITY CENTRE, TOLPITS LANE, WATFORD WD18 9QD

On 7/7/7 Greg Peachey of the FREdome Visionary Trust took a stall and ran the Belief Systems thread of the workshop at Thursday’s Child – an interfaith peace event in response to the 7/7 London bombings, initiated and organised by Vivienne Woolston. The session was attended by Hindu and Christian representatives. It explored shared values, joint action, areas of uniqueness, and reflective listening in silence. The Hindu and Christian representatives received uncannily similar “messages”.

June 2007:
The first local Community Workshop (or “Ideas Melting Pot”) following the Celebration event was held at the Holywell Community Centre in Watford. It principally stimulated ideas based on the themes identified at the pre-event workshop: Environment, Leisure, Prosperity, Safety, Transport and Youth. There were three interconnected threads: Arts, Practical and Belief Systems. People particularly appreciated the good planning, the creative brainstorming, the structured small-group discussions, the respect, the friendliness, the enthusiasm, and, of course, the music and food!

The young people at the workshop picked up on the work co-ordinated by Harry Hart of Global Eco (see below), as representing the most promising solution to many world problems which their generation and those to follow will bear the brunt of. The project was later to be named C-Green Solutions – Carbon Cycling Project..

May 2007:
On Bank Holiday Monday 28th May 2007, despite horizontal rain and a fallen tree inhibiting access to the venue, an estimated 2,500 people of diverse nationalities, ages, abilities, beliefs and cultures gathered at the Watford Colosseum for Celebration 2007, co-ordinated by Greg Peachey of the FREdome Visionary Trust. There was a dazzling array of performances, traditional costumes, ethnic foods and faith/culture sharing. All the communities represented bonded enthusiastically and had a brilliant time. The organisers, the volunteers behind the scenes and in fact the whole community really did more than was expected of them and pulled together, so that it all went off like a dream. (Visit www.watfordcelebration.org for a description of the event, and to see the photos click here)

April 2007:
Invited by Sponsorship Co-ordinator Fitzroy Williams of Rhythm Masters Entertainments: Waterworks Productions became FREdome’s first Gold Sponsor. Their sponsorship includes the making of a DVD documentary, recording the Celebration event, preparations and follow-on community programme. Chalfont Art & Framing, based in Amersham, Bucks became FREdome’s first Silver Sponsor. They pledged funding towards the community programme, which will follow the May Celebration event at the Watford Colosseum. Two-thirds of this will go directly towards the projects identified and selected by the local community as a whole, and a third towards the local infrastructure required to implement those projects.


March 2007:
The first pre-event community was workshop held at the White House Hotel in Watford. The purpose was to kick off the process of discovering the community voice, with a view to identifying priority projects to be implemented in partnership with authorities and business. Twenty-two groups attended, including members of the public, community groups, businesses and public services: Afro Caribbean Community, Age Concern Hertfordshire, Avaline (publisher of the flea magazine), BNI (Herts & Beds Region), Coll Heath Computer Services, EPM (Every Person Matters – co-presenter), Europcar, Forever Living Products, Herts Fire & Rescue Service, Holistic HR, J.Watson Photography, La Bilbaina (Traditional Spanish Cuisine), Latter Day Saints, Neways, Pass With Parv, SchoolsPlus Extended Schools Consortium, SPOKES (Cycling in South West Hertfordshire), United Sang Soo Do School of Martial Art Discipline, Watford Interfaith Association, Watford Senior Citizens Forum, Youth representatives (aged 11-15). Delegates undertook to survey 10 Watford residents each. Further groups, such as the North Watford Scouts, will also help conduct this initial survey. These starter results will be presented at the May Multicultural Celebration event, to stimulate further interest, ideas and participation.


February 2007:
Business sponsorship presentations were held at a Watford & West Herts Chamber Breakfast meeting in Moor Park Golf Club, and at the Best Western White House Hotel and Park Inn Watford.


January 2007:
The first presentation to potential business sponsors was delivered at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel in Watford.


November 2006:
£10,000 was awarded to the FREdome Visionary Trust by the National Lottery, Awards for All programme, in support of the Multicultural Celebration event at the Watford Colosseum, and a follow-on community workshop/action programme, designed to be a force for good - identifying and backing the best ideas from the community, be they artistic, cultural, spiritual, social or entrepreneurial.

Greg Peachey, Chair of FREdome, was invited to speak after dinner at the Rotary of Amwell.


October 2006:
Greg Peachey, Chair of FREdome was invited to speak after dinner to the Lions in Hitchin.


September 2006:
Greg Peachey, Chair of FREdome, addressed a meeting of the University of the Third Age, Watford, and was invited to speak to a meeting of the Bedford Lions.


June 2006:
A public meeting was held at 2 pm on Saturday 17th June in the Multi-Racial Community Centre, 70 Durban Road West, WATFORD, Hertfordshire WD18 7DS to form the FREdome Visionary Trust as a community organisation, with a publicly approved constitution and democratically elected management committee.


May 2006:
Consortium of companies and social enterprises (Computer Work Shop, Currency Exchange Corporation, Framework for Democracy, Base Creative, Kip McGrath Education Centre (Watford West), Pentland Group, Practical Quality Research, Simpson-Gray Associates, St Thomas' Pre-school Playgroup, Tangible Innovation and Wheeler PR) contribute seed funding to kick-start formation of community organisation and formal fundraising programme.

All-day Community Cohesion event at 1000-capacity Watford Colosseum planned for 28th May 2007 Bank Holiday in partnership with Watford Interfaith Association, Women's Federation for World Peace - Bridge of Peace, Multi-Racial Community Centre and Herts County Council. Venue hire kindly sponsored by Elected Mayor Dorothy Thornhill's Watford Borough Council department. Event will involve the arts, education, commercial, social and faith communities.