Our Ambition

Our Ambition – Community Climate Hub

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.

A Community Climate Hub will serve our community & deliver a positive impact on the environment.

Carrie Cort, CEO

About the Community Climate Hub

Sussex Green Living wants 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.

Advice and Education

Talks and workshops to address the cost-of-living, climate and ecological crises with money saving solutions and upskilling initiatives.
Information and advice on sustainable transport, energy, gardening and growing food, and on a range of other environmentally friendly steps.
A Green Book Library with wide range of literature to borrow.
A venue to screen environmental films and initiatives to inspire and excite.

Repair Cafe and Beyond

Horsham Repair Cafe currently repairs on average 35 items a month. However, many people can’t wait a month for a repair and so buy a replacement.

The Hub would offer household and garden electrical, mechanical and textile item repairs and would also include a scissor and knife sharpening service.

We will extend the Repair Café to be available 6 days a week and this will include a repair workshop for the mechanical and electrical repairs and PAT testing. This will make our repair service more accessible for all.

We will offer training and practical workshops to up-skill and for everyone to learn to repair household items.

Tool Loan Service – Library of Things

The Hub will offer a loan service for a ‘Library of Things’; items people use infrequently such as kitchen appliances, gardening equipment, tools and camping gear. Small items will be on display, larger ones available at a nearby industrial unit for collection (offered in collaboration with Horsham Makerspace).

This service is designed to save people money, reduce unnecessary purchases, reduce waste and encourage upskilling to build more resilient communities.

Household and Personal Care Refill Shop

We will offer a Personal Hygiene and Household Cleaning bottle refill service. Refilling bottles can save up to 70% CO2 and costs can be significantly cheaper than buying a new product.

We will also look to extend this service to include other items that are currently packaged in hard to recycle plastic and would be suitable to be refilled (e.g. pasta, dried fruit etc).

Clothes Bundle Library

In 2017/18, West Sussex residents threw away 11,000 tonnes of unwanted textiles. Our baby and toddler clothes bundle library will save families money and reduce purchases of new children’s clothes. For a set cost of £20, families will be able to join the scheme, swapping bundles for the next size up when needed.

We will introduce introduce similar schemes for seed and plant swaps to encourage grow your own.

Hard to Recycle Plastics

Due to demand, we will extend our current recycling service that we have established in Horsham and 19 locations across West Sussex. We will provide a drop-off point for hard to recycle plastic items, such as dental products, make up, toiletry packaging etc as well as used inkjet printer cartridges.

We will extend this service to also include mobile phones.

Horsham Community Fridge

Horsham Community Fridge collects food about to be disposed of by supermarkets and redistributes it, for free, to the public, supporting families as well as reducing food waste.

Currently operating out of several venues across the month, the Hub will offer a central and permanent home to the Community Fridge for this important public and environmental service.

Our Progress

We are looking to raise £80,000 for set up and the first year running costs of the Community Climate Hub. Hubs are generally open 5/6 days a week, but unlike many other Hubs, we have been unable to secure FREE town centre premises.

We are looking for funding for the premises, a full time Hub manager and set up costs etc. We have applied for grants to support this project longer term but need funding to get the project started now. As a result, we are also seeking philanthropists and businesses who can help bring this exciting project to life.

If you or your business are able to help please contact, Carrie Cort, on , 07768 212833.

Donations can be made here https://www.sussexgreenliving.org.uk/donate/.

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