A MARKET town that is working to prepare for the effects of climate change has received recognition from an international body.

Richmond has been officially named a Transition Town for its efforts in starting to prepare for a world in which cheap oil, coal and gas are no longer available.

The title has been awarded by the Transition Network, a group based in the UK, which works to encourage and support towns and villages around the world to prepare for the future.

The Network now has more than 260 members, including towns and cities from countries such as the US, Japan, Australia, Chile and New Zealand.

Richmond has been recognised for its efforts just four months after the group Transition Richmond Yorkshire (TRY) was founded to start planning ‘resilience strategies’, which it hopes will help the town cope with what ever is thrown at it in the coming years.

Resilient strategies include a greater emphasis on local services, such as producing, buying and selling closer to home, using more efficient transport, fitting better insulation and lighting and reviving forgotten traditional skills and matching them to modern technology.

TRY spokesperson Sheila Pearson said: "Transition groups help communities develop resilience, so people can actually thrive in difficult times.

"Transition isn't a hair-shirt philosophy. It's about trying to live comfortably through a time of uncomfortable change."

Since its formation in September 2009, TRY has set up an information window in Richmond's Finkle Street, screened a film about climate change and planned a series of public talks by national and international experts on renewable energy, home efficiency and electric cars.

The TRY team now hope to extend the initiative and create interest groups to focus on different areas of sustainability, such as vegetable plots and wind power, and to develop partnerships by working with other community groups and local government.

A mailing list has been set up for Richmond residents who are interested in the project to keep up to date with events and projects.

Details of TRY, and a mailing-list link, can be found at www.transitionrichmond.org. Printed mailing-list forms can also be found at Ken Warne, in Richmond.