November 2025 Newsletter
Welcome to the November Edition of the Charnwood Eco Hub Newsletter!
Hello everyone,
As the year draws to a close, there’s plenty happening at Charnwood Eco Hub to celebrate and look forward to! First, we’re delighted to welcome Katie, our brand-new Hub Coordinator, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. As a former volunteer, Katie brings a wonderful mix of enthusiasm and experience to the team, and we’re excited for the new ideas and energy she’s already bringing to the Hub!
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our Christmas Market — it was a fantastic success! From handmade crafts to delicious local treats, your support helped make it a joyful and sustainable celebration of community spirit.
We were also thrilled to recently host the Sensory Atelier CPD Workshop, welcoming staff from 14 local schools to the Hub for a creative and inspiring evening of hands-on learning. It was a real joy to see people exploring sustainability, creativity, and collaboration in such an engaging way.
Looking ahead, we have a series of seasonal workshops coming up to keep you inspired through the winter months — perfect opportunities to learn new skills, connect with others, and embrace eco-friendly living during the festive season.
Please note, the Hub will be taking a short break over Christmas — we’ll be closed from 21st December, and reopen on 7th January.
Thank you as always for being part of our growing community. Stay warm, stay green, and we’ll see you soon!
With festive cheer, The Charnwood Eco Hub Team
Discover, Create, and Repair at Charnwood Eco Hub – Upcoming Workshops!
Join us at Charnwood Eco Hub this season for a hands-on series of creative and sustainable workshops designed to inspire and connect our community. Whether you’re curious about mending, making, or mindful fashion, there’s something for everyone:
Slow Stitching Workshop - Saturday 22 November, 11am-1pm. A slow stitching workshop inviting participants to unwind and create mindfully, using simple hand-sewn stitches to express creativity and connect with the calming rhythm of the craft.
Christmas Jumper Workshop - Saturday 6th December, 11am -1pm. A Christmas jumper upcycling workshop where participants will transform old sweaters into festive, one-of-a-kind creations using stitching, appliqué, and decorations and materials from our Scrapstore—combining creativity, sustainability, and holiday cheer.
Thank you Tesco The Rushes!
Sue, The lovely Community Champion at Tesco The Rushes contacted us recently to ask if we would be able to take some stock they needed to dispose of - those who have visited in the last few weeks may have picked up a bag of charcoal or compost already, we now have all the camping chairs you could possibly need! We will be selling these for £5 each (all proceeds go back into Eco Hub projects).
Collaboratory Research Placement Opportunity
We are delighted to announce this research opportunity involving the Eco Hub, in collaboration with Loughborough University and De Montfort University. All of Collaboratory’s research projects are centred around one or more challenges relevant to local communities. Projects are carried out by a research candidate, and are supported by teams of researchers and partners from local community-focused organisations. This 10-week scoping study will explore how the Eco Hub makerspace can be developed into a genuinely inclusive community hub. The deadline is 30th November. You can find out more info or apply here.
Charnwood Eco Hub hosts The SENsory Atelier
The team from Attenborough Arts Centre’s SENsory Atelier recently brought their innovative continuing professional development (CPD) programme to life at Charnwood Eco Hub, engaging staff from 14 local schools running inclusive education settings across Leicestershire. The session immersed educators in hands-on sensory practices and collaborative arts-based strategies designed for learners with SEND, and provided each school with a group membership to the Scrapstore, and a basket full of materials. . Through tactile materials, sound, light, movement and reflective dialogue, teachers and support staff gained fresh confidence to design bespoke creative experiences in their own classrooms—reinforcing the Atelier’s belief that creativity is a human right and that children with special educational needs are “children with special rights”.
If you would like us to host your group at the Hub, we can offer bespoke packages - just get in touch to talk through your needs.
The Green Place
Nestled in the heart of Sileby, The Green Place is a vibrant eco-centre and café that welcomes the community with sustainable workshops, live events and a relaxed garden atmosphere. They are looking for eco stall holders for this year’s Sileby Christmas Lights Switch On event from 5-8pm on Friday 28th november. Stalls are free - if you’re interested contact them here.
They will also be running a Santa’s Emporium of Preloved Toys in December (see What’s On section below) - All of the gifts have been sourced from charity shops and are in ‘like new’ condition to create ‘Santa’s Emporium of Preloved Toys’ from which the child can choose rather than getting a prewrapped gift of cheap origin, which they might not like. Darren from The Green Place said: ‘In doing this we have supported loads of different charities by buying the gifts in charity shops and reducing wasted gifts. We will also plant one tree at Cossington Meadows Nature reserve for each child’s ticket purchased.’
Coming up
November
Intro to Willow Weaving
Friday 14th November, 7.30-9PM
The Green Place
Sileby
LE12 7RS
Barrow Greener Living Repair Cafe
Saturday 15th November, 1PM-3PM
Barrow upon Soar Library
Open Day with Crafts and Games
Saturday 15th November, 11AM-4PM
The Green Place
Sileby
LE12 7RS
The Fixit Group Repair Cafe
Monday 17th November, 7.30PM-10PM
Bradgate Arms
Cropston
LE7 7HG
Slow Stitching Workshop
Saturday 22nd November, 11AM-1PM
Charnwood Eco Hub
Loughborough
LE11 1DY
Transition Loughborough Repair Cafe
Saturday 29th November, 9.30AM-12PM
Fearon Hall
Loughborough
LE11 1PL
December
Christmas Tree Festival
26th November to 20th December, Thursdays and Saturdays, 10AM-4PM
All Saints Church
Loughborough
LE11 1UX
Christmas Jumper Workshop
Saturday 6th December, 11AM-1PM
Charnwood Eco Hub
Loughborough
LE11 1DY
Santa’s Grotto
Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th December
The Green Place
Sileby
LE12 7RS
The Fixit Group 23 Repair Cafe
Sunday 7th December, 10AM-1PM
Mountsorrel Memorial Centre
LE12 7DB
The Fixit Group 23 Repair Cafe
Monday 15th December, 7.30PM-10PM
Bradgate Arms
Cropston
LE7 7HG
Don’t forget to let us know about your upcoming events so that we can feature them!
Where to find us
Opening Hours:
Wednesdays 4-8pm (access via Clarence Street, opposite Travis Perkins)
Thursdays 10am-2pm (access via main SOFA entrance)
Saturdays 10am-2pm (access via main SOFA entrance)
Please note that we have no disabled access on Wednesday evenings. This is due to SOFA being closed and us not having access to the lift, and is sadly beyond our control.
Address: Clarence St, Loughborough LE11 1DY
Website: charnwoodecohub.org
Email: info@charnwoodecohub.org
Phone: 01509 447075