Communities or custodians?
It’s not just Spring in the air!
I can feel a new wave of environmental awareness amongst the communities around us, uniting and supporting each other to reduce our impact on the planet.
We have a vision of a future which looks positive, yet very different from today, as communities can be supported to develop thriving village hubs which may involve repair cafes, Community Sheds, exchanges of clothes, books or seeds or even planting community allotments and orchards.
We want to bring a hub just like this to the high street of Horsham.
We want to build on the success of the monthly pop-up, Sussex Green Hub and establish a Community Climate Hub in Horsham and mentor satellite hubs across West Sussex.
The Hub will be open 6 days a week offering support and advice to residents as well as money saving initiatives to reduce our impact on the planet.
Sussex Green Hub welcomes wider community
Each month a special and very welcoming Horsham community event pops up, open to all: The Sussex Green Hub, and last month our warm-hearted community got even bigger and better as almost two hundred visitors attended throughout the day.
This month our busy volunteers refilled 140 bottles with personal hygiene and cleaning products, repaired 43 items, answered all manner of recycling queries and gave advice on energy, green books to read, eco-garden and generally how help the planet and save money at the same time.
We are also now running creative drop in sessions of afternoon workshops from 1pm till 3pm. These will usually be free although voluntary donations are always welcomed.
Philanthropists and business heroes needed
It is easy to focus on finances and ignore the climate just now, when the cost-of-living crisis is hitting us so hard. However, the two are fundamentally interlinked. Reassessing how we live and what we consume ultimately saves resources for our planet and puts money into our pockets too.
For 2023 we want to build on the success of our monthly pop-up Sussex Green Hub by establishing a Community Climate Hub ‘on the high street’ in Horsham. The purpose of the hub is to offer initiatives and education that allow everyone to make changes to their life that have a positive impact on the planet AND save them money!
Eastbourne’s first Climate Emergency Centre
After six busy and successful weeks Eastbourne’s first Climate Emergency Hub has reached the end of its temporary lease in The Beacon Centre at the end of December. During this time the hub team organised over 50 workshops and took turns to keep the hub open as a drop-in centre for the public, seven days a week. They are now searching for new premises.
Guildford Community Hub unites community
On Tuesday evening our Horsham Future Forum were inspired by a presentation about the new Guildford Community Hub which it is in the early stages of development. It consists of 12 different local organisations working together, their aim: education and engaging the wider population to drive behavioural change, and thereby try to reduce consumption emissions. Presented by Ben McCallan.
The Guildford Community Hub is built on a model called Space Generators, which has been operating for about 30 years. Space Generators focus on arts environmental community and sustainability projects / events using their network built up since 1992, when their campaign for the reuse of empty space began after the Rio Earth Summit. They tailor events or create a variety of modules to match vacant space in the interim period before development. Helping to provide space for local community use.
Currently there are Community Hubs being formed in Staines, Farnham, Elmbridge and two in Scotland. Could we develop a community hub in Horsham?