Sussex Green Living

Students Put Repair and Sustainability into Practice

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What if, before replacing something that stops working, we asked: Can it be repaired?

Repair does not have to mean being an expert with a toolbox. It can mean finding out whether something can be fixed before buying a replacement, learning a simple skill, asking someone with experience for help or visiting a local Repair Café.

Sussex is fortunate to have a community of volunteers making this possible. Sussex Green Living launched West Sussex’s first Repair Café in Horsham in 2017 and has supported the development of many others. There are now 19 in West Sussex bring people together to share practical knowledge and give broken household items another chance. Read more

The Float at MSDC Playday in Burgess HillSussex Green Living

When a Community Comes Together to get a Float Back on the Road

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Early August brought an unexpected setback for Sussex Green Living when its iconic electric Eco Float broke down. After a complex recovery, the float was finally towed onto a trailer and taken to The Milk Float Company in nearby Alford, where Len – who has spent his life maintaining and rebuilding milk floats – was able to assess the problem. His prognosis was clear: the Eco Float needed a new control panel and accelerator, at a cost of £1,550.

For a small charity, an unexpected repair bill of this size could have been a major obstacle. But what happened next was a powerful reminder of the value of local community support. Read more

Picture of detail on the new mural GS Creative Photography

New youth project highlights care for local ecology in Westergate

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Students from Ormiston Six Village Academy have unveiled a massive (40m) new mural along with dynamic new signs for local bins, as part of a project they have designed to increase respect for the natural world in their area.

Developed with input from the whole school community, the project supported a number of students in Years 8 – 10 to work with two commissioned artists – selected by them – to create art interventions in the school’s local Westergate village intended to inspire greater respect for the natural world locally. Read more

Bees Needs Award 2026RHS

Sussex Green Living receive the Defra National Bees Needs Champions Award from Nature Minister Mary Creagh at RHS Wisley

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At Sussex Green Living, we are delighted and honoured to have been recognised at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) National Bees Needs Champions Awards at RHS Wisley on 14 July. Our Pollination Education Station (PES) Trail across Sussex received national recognition for its contribution to supporting pollinators and educating communities about the vital role they play in our environment.  Read more

Pop Shop in Swan WalkSussex Green Living

A Pop-up with Purpose: Community Collaboration Brings Wellbeing & Sustainability To Horsham

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Sussex Green Living Pop-up Shop Swan Walk

This May 2026, an empty retail unit in Swan Walk Shopping Centre has been transformed into a vibrant community hub—demonstrating the power of collaboration to support both people and planet. 

In an inspiring joint initiative, Men’s Shed Horsham and Sussex Green Living have come together to launch a month-long pop-up shop focused on wellbeing, sustainability, and community connection. They are joined by Menshare and SEN Shed, creating a diverse and inclusive programme of activities across the week.   Read more

Sussex Green Living

Collaboration for Nature: Charity and Business Partnership Creates Outdoor Learning Space at Thakeham Primary School

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As part of their action for World Climate Day on 23rd March, Sussex Green Living partnered in a brand-new way with local business to extend regional nature recovery efforts. Last week proved to be a very exciting time for Thakeham Primary School, as pupils became the proud recipients of a brand-new outdoor learning area thanks to a collaboration between Sussex Green Living, local business Mountjoy, and a network of community partners working together for nature.   

The project forms part of Sussex Green Living’s Pollination Education Station (PES) Trail, an initiative designed to improve food security, support pollinators and provide accessible environmental education. The trail is supported by the charity’s Green Business Network, which enables businesses to work alongside the charity, educate their staff about sustainability and use corporate volunteering days to take meaningful action for climate and nature.  Read more

Arundel wetlands Centre – Communicating the Message of Nature

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Darren Cool – 07792308722 – www.dcoolimages.com

“The most effective way to save the threatened and decimated natural world is to cause people to fall in love with it again-with its beauty and its reality” This was the vision of Sir Peter Scott, the tireless broadcaster and naturalist who established the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. We visited the WWT’s Arundel Wetland Centre in the year of its 50th anniversary, the WWT’s 80th, just before World Wetlands Day on 2 February, to investigate his legacy.  

We started our morning by meeting Marketing and Communications Manager Pat Warren and Reserve manager Suzi Lanaway in the impressive Visitors Centre. It’s a bright open space with huge picture windows looking out over a large lake bustling with all kinds of water birds such as geese, ducks and teals. As we sipped our coffee and talked, we couldn’t fail to notice the occasional blue flash of a kingfisher darting to the water a few feet from where we sat.  Read more

Small but Mighty: Our Charity’s Ripple Effect Across Sussex in 2025

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Small but Mighty: Our Charity’s Ripple Effect Across Sussex in 2025

2025 was truly a bumper year for our small but mighty charity, one that has created powerful ripples of positive change across East and West Sussex. Guided by our three pillars – conserving resources, making food sustainable and restoring biodiversity – we’ve shown what a dedicated community can achieve with passion, collaboration and a shared vision for a greener future.

At the heart of our work is a highly effective team: seven willing trustees, several environmental educators, the equivalent of two full-time employees and a grant writer (not in a pear tree!) This brilliant team is strengthened by an incredible network of volunteers who bring our mission to life in towns, villages, schools and public spaces across Sussex.

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National Lottery grant helps local project look to a sharing future

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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.   
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Batting for Change: Repair and Reuse Take Root in Local Cricket

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In a small workshop in Haywards Heath, cricket bats are being restored to life. Barney Morris, better known as Barney Bats, repairs around 50 damaged bats each week. After a busy weekend of matches, his workbench can resemble a triage unit as bats arrive in need of care and attention.

Morris, who runs the cricket department at Wisdom Sports in town, is on a mission to prove that a cracked bat need not be discarded. His passion began when he started fixing senior bats for junior players, driven by the high cost of new kit. “The price of cricket bat willow means getting a good bat is really expensive,” he explained. “Now I get donated adult bats which I can repair and resize for children and I can sell them at a fraction of the cost of a new bat.” Read more