Welcome
It's becoming clear that the sustained use of pesticides across our landscape, for farming, environmental management and garden care, are contributing to a rapid loss of biodiversity and potentially involved in a wide range of human health and wellbeing issues that are, as yet, only just beginning to be understood.
For a truly sustainable, healthy and prosperous future, for our children, grandchildren and future generations, we need to transition to a pesticide- free lifestyle and economy as soon as we can.
We therefore want to bring people from across Devon together who are already engaged and interested in pesticide - free lifestyles and projects, so that we can meet, be motivated and inspired by each other’s achievements and knowledge, and explore how we can work in a more co-ordinated way across our beautiful county of Devon.
We look forward to welcoming you to the wonderful Courtenay Centre in Newton Abbot on the 7th of June for an inspiring day of learning, sharing, organising and celebrating the achievements that we have already made on this journey
to a pesticide – free Devon and a healthier world.
To book your place, please fill in the form below to book your workshops and make your payment to cover the costs of the delicious organic and locally – sourced lunch that we will be serving. We will have a limited number of free lunch places available, so if you would like one of these please request. Equally, if you feel able to support the lunch subsidy, please do contribute at the Supporter rate in order to help others attend the event.
Below are more details about our inspiring Key Speakers and the Workshops that will be available in both the morning and the afternoon. Please scroll down
for the Booking Form.
We look forward to seeing you in June :)
Key Speakers
Guy Singh–Watson
Founder of Riverford Organics
Over the past 37 years, Guy Singh-Watson has transformed Riverford from a one-man operation with a wheelbarrow delivering homegrown organic veg to friends into a national veg box scheme serving 70,000 customers each week. Tired of meetings, brands, and the assumption that greed is our predominant motivation, Guy transitioned Riverford to employee ownership in 2018, using the proceeds to buy a small farm and return to his passion for growing organic vegetables.
In line with his approach to business, Guy has always used his voice to drive change, championing fairness, environmental responsibility, and ethical practices. A long-time advocate for small family farmers and transparency in the food industry, he is now campaigning to expose ‘farmwashing’ by large supermarkets and calling for greater integrity and support for sustainable British farming. Through his weekly newsletters and public speaking, Guy continues to challenge the status quo, advocating for a fairer, more sustainable approach to farming and eating.
Like many of Riverford’s co-owners, Guy believes in using business to create a kinder, more considerate, and more sustainable world—reflecting the values that most of us want to live by.
Amanda Keetley
Executive Director of Devon Environment Foundation
Amanda is an environmentalist and marketing expert with 25 years’ experience specialising in strategy and communications. From 2015-2020 she campaigned to reduce plastic pollution globally via her non-profit Less Plastic and her book ‘Plastic Game Changer’.
In 2020, she extended her focus beyond sustainability to nature regeneration, launching Devon Environment Foundation (the first UK branch of the Conservation Collective) to channel funds to local nature restoration projects.
Amanda is excited by the multiple benefits that nature restoration brings and takes every opportunity to showcase uplifting stories from grassroots projects, to amplify their impact and inspire hope and wider action. She lives in South Devon and loves connecting with nature on woodland or coastal walks and sea dips.
Martin Wrigley
M.P. for Newton Abbot
Martin worked in high tech industry for over 30 years and has lived in Teignbridge for over 25 years. He is a former Mayor of Dawlish and has been involved in local community politics since 2013. Martin grew up in a Navy family and lived all over the world. Twenty five years ago he brought his young family to live in Dawlish and fell in love with the area. In 2023 Martin became Leader of Teignbridge District Council and in 2024 he was elected as the M.P. for the Newton Abbot constituency.
Martin said “I want to make sure that that people locally have a good home they can afford and a good future. We must look after the environment and the beautiful area in which we live as well as build a flourishing economy and a caring society.”
Workshop Information
1. Pesticides and Biodiversity
with Phil Sansum, Botanical and Projects Officer for Devon Biodiversity Records Centre
2. Pesticides and Our Health
with Nick Mole, Policy Manager for the UK Pesticide Action Network
3. Human-scale Pesticide – free Food Production
with Ed Hamer – Founder of Chagfood CSA
4. Organising a Community Pesticide Collection
with Andrew Rothery + Anita Gorst of Green Futures Newton Abbot
5. Landscape-scale Food Production
with farmers from different food sectorsTBC
6. The Role of Government (Local and National)
with Jo Rice – Senior Casework Team Leader for Martin Wrigley M.P. +
Teignbridge District and Newton Abbot Town Councillor, Richard Buscombe.
7. The Role of the Arts in Marketing “Pesticide – Free”
with Simon Heath – Ecotherapist, Teacher and Graphic Designer
8. Alternatives to Pesticides in the Garden, the Allotment and the Neighbourhood
with Gardener / Grower TBC
There will be 1 Workshop slot in the morning session and 1 in the afternoon,
please see the Booking Form to make your choices.
Book Your Place
If your form doesn't submit properly (a received message will appear under the Submit button), please try leaving it for a minute and pressing "Submit" again. If you still don't get the Submit message, please email us for assistance at :
Conference@greenfutures-newtonabbot.co.uk
- we don't want to let quirky tech get inthe way of you coming to the Conference :)
For more information about the event
please email:
info@greenfutures-newton abbot.co.ukd
For any booking enquiries please email:
conference@greenfutures-newtonabbot.co.uk
The Courtenay Centre is 5 minutes walk from the Bus Station and 15 minutes walk from Newton Abbot Train Station, with plenty of car-parking nearby. We will send you more details with your booking.
For All Our Futures
