October 2024 Newsletter
Hello! Where did last month go?! And how is it only two months ‘til Christmas? No sooner had we finished getting everything ready for the Sustainability Fair, were we into last minute preparations for next month’s Christmas Eco Market - if you haven’t heard about that yet, see the article below, it’s going to be brilliant. We’ve also been busy bees behind the scenes planning and prepping for the Eco Hub - more on that to come soon!
2nd annual Charnwood Sustainability Fair is a success!
Sunday 29th September saw the 2nd annual Charnwood Sustainability Fair take place in Queen’s Park, Loughborough. Over 30 stalls participated, including local craftspeople selling sustainable handmade gifts, local groups such as Transition Loughborough, Woodhouse Eaves Plastic Free and Incredible Edible offering advice on how to live more sustainably, national and local environmental charities like the Trent Rivers Trust sharing information on their activities, and entertainment from local performers The Quorn Ukulele Orchestra, Bare Bones Women’s Morris Dancers and Sing It Happy choir.
This year for the first time food was available, from new local community interest company Turnip Point - who make delicious dishes out of food otherwise destined for landfill - and Food for Future, who were hosting cookery demonstrations on how to cook vegan on a budget with seasonal produce. Fun and educational family activities were provided by Parents for Future. Charnwood Borough Council, who supported the event, were also present, with 500 native trees to give away to residents to plant at home.
We’re really pleased that the event went so well and particularly that the weather held – Mother Nature must have been smiling on us! It was great to see so many people at the event - even more than last year - and chatting to stall holders, who said they had some really positive conversations. One of the aims of Charnwood Eco Hub is to bring local groups working towards sustainability together, and help them to share information on their activities with residents, so we’re delighted that so many people engaged, and we’re already making plans for next year. We’d also like to thank Charnwood Borough Council for supporting this event.
Charnwood Eco Hub/SOFA collab October update!
Things are moving along nicely with our Eco Hub fit out project, and we hope to get started on getting some walls up soon! We met with the trustees at SOFA last month to give them an update on our progress, and everyone was very excited to hear about our plans. Clive is busy drawing up floor plans, and we have been contacting/visiting local organisations organisations and businesses, for support either as donors or collaborators. We hope to have something to show you next month - Watch this space!
Christmas Eco Market
Our next event is a Christmas Eco Market, which will take place in Loughborough Market Place (using the new permanent covered market stalls) on Sunday November 3rd from 10am-3pm. Charnwood Borough Council will be there giving away trees again, which always draws a crowd, we hope to have some Christmas-themed entertainment, and we’ll be offering an eco gift-wrapping service. We are particularly looking for stalls selling ethical/sustainable Christmas gifts, and vegetarian/vegan food stalls - If you’d like to come, you can book a stall here.
Transition Potato Day 2025
Gardeners of Loughborough: it is time to start making your Potato Day orders for the 2025 season! We are once again partnering with Transition Chesterfield to offer a range of seed potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic, beans, peas, green manure seeds and other veg growing sundries. You can pre-order from today until Tuesday 12th November 2024 if you want to take advantage of the widest range of options and lowest prices.
As usual pre-ordered items will be collected from Chesterfield in January by the Transition Loughborough volunteers, bagged up and then distributed on Saturday 25th January 2025 from John Storer House. Full details, and the link to the ordering website at Transition Chesterfield are on our Potato Day 2025 web page.
Remember: you have to place your orders by Tuesday 12th November 2024 – no orders will be accepted after that date because Transition Chesterfield will be sending the total order amounts of potatoes, sets, and seeds to their suppliers. The deadline is a little earlier this year because the suppliers have already said there are limited stocks of some varieties due to the poor weather experienced by some farmers earlier in the year, so we need to “get in quick”! Please don’t get caught out – order as soon as you can!
Support us and win with Charnwood Community Lottery!
You can now support us and also be in with a chance of winning by buying tickets for Charnwood Community Lottery. At least 60% from each ticket sold goes to support Charnwood, and there’s a chance to win the £25,000 jackpot every week! You can purchase tickets and support us here.
Introducing: Turnip Point
We’re excited to introduce Turnip Point, a community-driven social enterprise that’s on a mission to tackle food waste and support those in need across Charnwood. Our approach? Simple – we rescue surplus food, turn it into innovative meals, and share it with the community through various concepts, making healthy, innovative, delicious food accessible to all.
Our recent launch event at the Charnwood Eco Hub Sustainability Fair on 29th September at Queens Park was a fantastic start! It was the perfect way to introduce ourselves to the community, and the response was incredible. With the help of Fareshare, Wonky Veg, who generously donated a box of produce, and some local traders we managed to save 120kg of food that would have otherwise gone to waste.
The money raised from each event goes directly into growing Turnip Point, allowing us to host more community events, provide more delicious food offerings, and help even more people through our free community lunches and dinners. Our mission is to keep spreading sustainability and community spirit with every meal we serve! All support on our journey is very much appreciated - You can support our crowdfunder here.
What’s Next? We’re excited to announce our next event at the Hub Project on Market Street (Loughborough) on Monday, 7th October from 12-2 PM. This pay-as-you-please lunch is open to everyone! Come enjoy our delicious meat and veggie options made from surplus ingredients, and take the opportunity to see the fantastic work the Hub Project is doing inside for the local community. It’s first come, first serve, so come down early to grab a meal, enjoy some good food, and be part of something bigger. And don’t worry if you miss it, we’ll be back at the next Charnwood Eco Hub Sustainability Fair in November.
Follow us, join the movement, and let’s make a real difference together! We can’t wait to see you at our next event!
International Repair Day 2024 - Saturday 19th October
Repairing things isn’t always easy – especially with electricals and electronics! It’s often hard to get spare parts; there are limited instructions; items aren’t made to last and some are impossible to take apart without breaking them. This isn’t just frustrating, it’s bad for our bank balances and the planet. On Saturday 19 October 2024 we will celebrate the eighth edition of International Repair Day, a day to promote and celebrate the value of fixing. We’ve signed the Repair and Reuse declaration, calling on policymakers to make it easier for items to be repaired. If you run a repair cafe or repair group, please consider signing it.
Woodhouse Eaves Plastic Free have organised a special International Repair Day Repair Cafe in Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall on the day from 9.30am-12.30pm, and we’ll be making a special announcement on the day ourselves, so keep an eye on our social media!
Coming up
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MMC Repair Cafe 6th October 10.00AM-1.00PM Mountsorrel Memorial Centre |
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Turnip Point Community Lunch Monday 7th October The Arc Community Centre |
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Fruit Routes Harvest Event Saturday 12th October 12-5pm Loughborough University Campus |
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Repair Cafe Saturday 19th October, 9.30am-12.30pm Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall |
Volunteer with us!
We’re looking for volunteers to join us at the Eco Hub in a wide variety of roles, including customer service, admin, social media & marketing, and tech support, and we’d love to welcome you to the team! For more information on how you can get involved email us for a volunteer application pack!