National Lottery grant helps local project look to a sharing future
Sussex Green Living has received a National Lottery Community Fund award to expand its work with young people and families, while exploring the creation of a “Library of Things” for Sussex.
SGL is best known for running the monthly Repair Café and Green Hub in Horsham. Since the Horsham Repair Cafe launched in October 2017, volunteers have repaired hundreds of household items and garments, saved residents thousands of replacement costs and prevented waste from going to landfill or incineration.
The new funding will help the group target 17–25-year-olds and families with young children, with extra activities at the Repair Café, family friendly events and skills sharing opportunities. Champions will be recruited to take pop up repair cafés and skill swaps into colleges and community venues.
From October, the Sussex Green Hub will also host a new Art Hub 10am – 2.30pm; a relaxed, informal drop-in for all ages to get creative, learn new skills, and enjoy community connections. People are welcome to bring along their knitting, embroidery, drawing, or any project they’re working on, or simply join in with activities on offer. Repurposed materials will be available for children’s crafts, and tea, coffee and cake will be served from the community café, along with plenty of good company.
Alongside repairing and reusing, the team is also looking ahead to the next big step: a Library of Things. This is a space where people can borrow useful items such as tools, garden and kitchen equipment, toys and baby items rather than buying them new. It is a model that is beginning to take root across the UK. In Sussex, the only example we know of so far is Share Haywards Heath, which has already shown the benefits of making everyday items affordable and accessible while cutting waste.
The idea is particularly relevant to younger people setting up homes, and to families with children who often need expensive items for only a short time. Sussex Green Living hopes that, with the right support, the next adventure could be the creation of a mobile Library of Things, building on its track record of mentoring more than 40 new repair cafés across the Southeast.
Director and Founder of Sussex Green Living Carrie Cort said: “Repairing is just the start. Our aim is to reboot how we involve younger generations in climate action, building a culture where sharing replaces buying. A Library of Things could make a real difference to household budgets and to the environment.”
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Art Hub in action
