February 2025 Newsletter
We’re thrilled to kick off this month’s newsletter by celebrating the successful launch of Charnwood Eco Hub! 🎉 A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our opening event—we were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, support, and shared passion for sustainability. Seeing our community come together to embrace reusing, repairing, and reducing waste has truly inspired us for the journey ahead.
Now that we’re officially open, we’d love for you to drop by and explore everything we have to offer. Whether you’re borrowing from our Library of Things, finding hidden treasures in the Scrapstore, or would like to volunteer with us, we’re here for it! Our opening hours are:
🕰️ Wednesday: 3 PM – 7 PM
🕰️ Thursday 10 AM - 1 PM
🕰️ Saturday: 10 AM – 2 PM
📍 Find us on the first floor at SOFA, Towles Mill Building, Clarence Street, Loughborough, LE11 1DY.
Stay tuned for exciting events, workshops, and community projects happening soon. Let’s keep the momentum going! 💚♻️
Incredible Edible Loughborough Winter Workshops
Announcing our next winter workshop: “Soil: What it is and How to Keep it Healthy”
Saturday 22nd February 2025, Fearon Hall, Rectory Road, LE11 1PL, 10am to 12 in the main hall, followed by coffee and chat. Julian Rees will give a talk on the importance of looking after our soil.
A handful of healthy soil contains more living organisms than all the humans that have ever lived. It stores more carbon than the atmosphere and all plants and animals combined. It is essential to providing our food. Yet we are losing it at a terrifying rate. Globally we lose 24 billion tonnes per year. Understanding soil is fundamental to growing healthy, nutritious food.
After a talk on soil and how to keep it healthy, we will look at some samples of different soils, pick it up, run it through our fingers, look at it, smell it, discuss texture and colour.
No charge, but donations to cover costs will be appreciated. Please arrive early. Bring gardening gloves if you can but we can provide. Booking essential. Email on ediblelboro@gmail.com to book.
Parking around Fearon Hall is limited. Best option is to park under Tesco’s in The Rushes and walk up, leaving 5 minutes or more for the walk.
GreenerFuture Leicestershire is a newly launched Innovate UK funded project to deliver carbon reduction services across the county. Their vision is to offer fully funded credible advice and effective support to businesses and communities to build a more resilient and greener future. Their business advisory service provides guidance to businesses and community organisations, for whatever stage of the sustainability journey your group or business is at.
Their services offer a comprehensive support package to Leicestershire SMEs and community groups, to:
- Focus on what sustainability action is relevant for you - Use their diagnostic tool to identify 3 practical actions that will make the biggest difference to your business
- Learn from trusted resources - they provide materials to help you save time and make informed decisions on how to take the best actions for your business
- Join expert-led workshops - Fully funded hands-on support and opportunities to connect with others on the same journey
- Get recognised for your sustainability actions
- Stand out and succeed with recognition for your work
Start your journey at www.greenerfutureleicestershire.co.uk or email them at greenerfuture@leicester.ac.uk.
Leicestershire County Council Launches Waste Prevention Map
This new interactive map hosted on the County Council website includes organisations that provide refill options on food and drinks, repairers such as fixer groups and other organisations in the community (like us!) that support a move to a more local circular economy where waste is eliminated and products are kept in use for longer.
A spokesperson for the County Council said, “We know sometimes it is difficult to find a service near you without lots of searching, so we have created this map so you can find the services you need across Leicestershire.”
Leicestershire County Council has recently launched a new waste prevention map to help residents find their nearest repair cafe, refill shop or eco group. The map shows organisations that are based in Leicestershire who help people to;
- Reduce
- Reuse
- Refill
- Prevent Waste
If you belong to a Leicestershire-based organisation that fits one of these categories, and you’re not on the map, you can add your group by filling in the application form here.
Calling all gardeners: Transition Loughborough are holding another of their popular seed share events at Fearon Hall!
This will take place in the morning on Saturday 1st March 2025 and will coincide with a vegan cafe popping up in the Hall serving breakfasts, so you can do some seed sharing and eat some plants at the same time.
For those who have not been before, a seed sharing event is when local people bring unwanted seeds they have, put them on tables and then look at other seeds people have put down. Any that take your fancy you can have. You can bring 1 packet and take 10, or bring 10 and take 1, and the seeds can be self-saved ones or out of date, partially used or unwanted commercial seed packets. Its a great way to thin out your excess old seeds stock and potentially pick up some seeds to try out for free. No money changes hands for the seed swap itself, though you’ll need to buy your breakfast at the Fearon Hall cafe.
Applications Open!
Planning ahead for a greener future? We’re pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2025 Charnwood Sustainability Fair and Christmas Eco Market!
These much-anticipated events are perfect opportunities for local businesses, organisations, and artisans to showcase their sustainable products and and eco-friendly services, and their knowledge and projects. The Sustainability Fair will take place in Autumn 2025, highlighting green initiatives and fostering community collaboration.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of these inspiring events! Apply now to help shape a sustainable Charnwood.
Join the Charnwood Eco Hub Volunteer Team
Are you passionate about sustainability and making a difference in your community? The Charnwood Eco Hub is looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help us bring our vision of a greener future to life!
From supporting events and workshops to maintaining our community spaces and sharing eco-friendly practices, there’s something for everyone to get involved in. Volunteering is a fantastic way to meet like-minded people, develop new skills, and contribute to meaningful change.
No experience is needed—just a can-do attitude and a love for the environment.
Interested? Email us to sign up or learn more. We’d love to have you on the team!
Share Your Eco Events with Us!
Do you have an upcoming event focused on sustainability, environmental awareness, or community action? We’d love to hear about it!
The Charnwood Eco Hub is dedicated to connecting people with opportunities to get involved in making a greener future. That’s why we feature a ‘What’s On’ section in our newsletter, highlighting eco-friendly events happening across Charnwood.
Whether it’s a workshop, clean-up day, educational talk, or market, sharing your event helps us spread the word and inspire more people to participate.
Email us your event details to be included in the next edition. Let’s work together to build a more sustainable Charnwood!
Coming up
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Incredible Edible Soil Workshop Saturday 22nd February, 10AM-12PM Fearon Hall, Loughborough |
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Fix It Group 23 Repair Cafe Sunday 23rd February, 10AM-1PM Mountsorrel Memorial Centre |
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Transition Loughborough Seed Swap Saturday 1st March, 10AM-12PM Fearon Hall, Loughborough |
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Transition Repair Cafe Saturday 8th March, 10AM-1PM Fearon Hall, Loughborough |
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Eco Fair Saturday 15th March, 10AM-4PM Thorpe Acre Church, Loughborough |
Where to find us
Opening Hours: (from 1st February 2025)
Wednesdays 3-7pm (access via Clarence Street)
Thursday 10am-1pm (access via main SOFA entrance)
Saturday 10am-2pm (access via main SOFA entrance)
Address: Clarence St, Loughborough LE11 1DY
Website: charnwoodecohub.org
Email: info@charnwoodecohub.org
Phone: 01509 447075