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Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for the Refill Van, a mobile shop based in Rushden that serves Wellingborough, Northampton and North Northamptonshire. Their mobile shop is a weigh-and-pay style household goods refill store, with plastic and packaging free products. The Refill Van was started by friends Tarnya Bayes, Adam Mattacola and his wife Emma Mattacola in March this year and began trading in May during lockdown.

When Tarnya recently experienced a few big life changes, it made her seriously rethink how sustainable her lifestyle was. She’d always been passionate about ethical shopping, but it wasn’t always possible or easy to get exactly what she required without travelling. This inspired her to solve this problem for herself and other people by teaming up with Adam and Emma to set up the Refill Van. Here Tarnya gives us a tour of their mobile shop at one of their regular locations, Glendon Lodge Farm:

Emma, who takes care of the business’ social media and marketing, said: “We thought it was going to be really hard to start a business during a really difficult time, but actually, with people shielding, our van can turn up and it’s like a mobile market. It’s perfect for people avoiding shops or public transport or anything like that, because we can come to them. We like the idea of community and neighbourhoods coming together so groups could book the van to come and a few different households can visit.”

Designed to support sustainability and reduce waste, the mobile shop is stocked with a variety of dried goods including pasta, pulses, beans, cereals, nuts, loose teas and coffee beans. Customers can also replenish things like shampoo and conditioner, washing up liquid, household cleaners and hand soap, while items for sale include a range of bamboo toothbrushes, deodorants, reusable sandwich bags, plus much more. The full range can been seen on the website, at www.refillvan.co.uk, where you can also book your delivery or collection.

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Refill Van brings the plastic-free market shopping experience to your doorstep, in a safe and contact free way. By booking online, via the website, you can have the van visit your house or street, allowing you to refill your own containers with household staples, thereby eliminating the excessive amount of packaging used in supermarkets. There is also the option of collecting directly from Rushden or visiting one of the many local markets that Refill Van frequents; Northampton, Kettering, Raunds, Scotch Lodge Farm and many of the Outdoor Vegan Markets!

More information can also be found on their social media pages at facebook.com/refill.van and at instagram.com/refill.van

Today’s Advent Calendar window features our friend, The Chalk Paint Guy. He is a bold furniture re-designer with a shop based in Raunds. Exclusively using Annie Sloan products, he rescues unwanted classic pieces from being destroyed or sent to landfill with imaginative and inspired designs to add boldness to your home interiors.

The Chalk Paint Guy is your one-stop local shop for quirky and unusual re-use furniture items. Featuring a range of vintage, retro, rustic and creative designs, you’re sure to find something you love painted by The Chalk Paint Guy. Here Marly, aka The Chalk Paint Guy, tells you all with some of his fantastic items:

The Chalk Paint Guy’s shop at 48 Brook Street, Raunds, NN9 6LP is currently closed to visitors due to the pandemic; he is open online on Etsy, and is currently offering FREE LOCAL DELIVERY on anything that fits in his van, including Annie Sloan products (charges apply for deliveries elsewhere or where a courier is required.)

The Chalk Paint Guy also sells giftware made by local creatives and craftspeople. All of the giftware he stocks is made in Northamptonshire – This reduces carbon emissions, supports local creatives and is usually cheaper than the alternatives, examples include:

• Scented Candles – Hand poured in Northampton – £15
• Artworks – Hand designed in Kettering – £20-£65
• Gift Boxes – Handmade in Raunds – £15
• Greetings Cards – Hand drawn in Northants – £12 for 6!
• Cactus in a Can – Handmade by myself in Raunds – £4
• Macrame Gifts – Hand woven in Raunds – £3-£12
• Plush Toys – Hand sewn in Kettering – £10-£30
• Unique Lamps – Hand crafted in Northampton – from £75.

Gift Vouchers are available too, at your chosen value, with a free handmade greeting card (blank), sent directly to your door! New painting commissions are also welcomed. All commissions are available with safe and contact-free delivery/collection available. Find out more on The Chalk Paint Guy on his Facebook page or at his online shop at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheChalkPaintGuy

At Wombledon, the Wombled Workshop are local creative carpenters who ‘make good use of the things that they find’. They take things that ‘the everyday people’ dispose of, and make them into something new! They have a small workshop based in Wilby, making garden and housewares from recycled and repurposed materials to sell locally. Here Jamie, workshop owner and local multi-skilled handyman, shows us around Womledon:

Examples of what they have Wombled include furniture, shelves, bird feeders, childrens garden furniture and even craft knives. Here are a few of their creations:

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Yes, they even make eco-friendly firelighters from scrap wax and workshop shavings. Clean, slightly scented burn for minimum of 5 minutes, giving plenty of time for fire to catch. You can buy what they have made and find out more about them on their Facebook page.

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Northamptonshire Wood Recycling CIC, a registered Community Interest Company based in Northampton. They rescue “waste” wood from local businesses and the community, then get it back into use again. Great news – They are open today! Due to Covid, they are now open by appointment only. To book a 30 minute slot click HERE

They offer a wood and timber collection service throughout Northamptonshire which is usually cheaper than hiring a skip. Because they charge by the square cubic yard rather than for a skip , their customers make extra savings. Their teams are trained to load our 3.5t caged tippers efficiently so that there are no gaps.

The wood is then re-used or recycled. They sell all lengths and types of wood at their warehouse at a cheaper price compared to the DIY shops. This includes construction timber, scaffold boards and decking. They also sell cheap kindling & firewood to the community using the best, dry, untreated wood available. Their warehouse is at Unit G2, Kingsfield Close, Northampton NN5 7QS​​. They also offer a delivery service.

As a CIC, they are a social enterprise operating on a not-for-profit basis. They aim to reduce the amount of wood going to waste whilst offering training & employment to the long term unemployed. By buying your wood from them you help them give something back to the community and reduce wood going to waste, see their website for more details.

Today our Advent Calendar window opens for our wonderful friends at Animals In Need. They are an organisation dedicated to rescuing sick, injured, trapped and distressed wild and domestic animals. They provide veterinary treatment where necessary, care for and rehabilitate animals until they can be released or re-homed. Animals In Need was set up in 1990, the aim of the organization is alleviate suffering in animals.

The animal Shelter is at Pine Tree Farm, London Road, Little Irchester, Northamptonshire, NN8 2EH and is open to the public between 12 midday and 3pm Tuesday to Sunday. It is run by 8 members of staff and a team of volunteers at Pine Tree Farm and out attending to both domestic and wild animals in the Northamptonshire area. They also work with Northamptonshire Police attending road traffic accidents and out of hours emergencies. Here founder of Animals in Need, Roy Marriott, tells us about the charity with their latest rescued animal, Ruby:

Feeding and caring for the injured animals they rescue is most important especially in cases of young orphaned birds, which need hand feeding every hour from dawn till dusk. Also young hedgehogs which haven’t reached the required weight to survive hibernation over the winter months, need to be kept warm and fed as do swans that have incurred injuries, many from fishing tackle that they have swallowed or become entangled in.

The shelter has a vegan cafe which is open 11:00 until 4:00 Saturday and Sunday. Pop in for some wonderful vegan food, breakfasts, toasty, shepherds pie, mac n cheese, or beyond burger with chips. There are incredible cakes from Motley bakes plus sweets and chocolate. All funds raised support the animals in there care. Hand sanitiser, masks and gloves are all available.

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They also have a charity shop at 89 Lea Red, Abington, Northampton. It is open 9am til 5pm Monday to Saturday but closed on Sundays. Pop in and grab a Christmas bargain whilst raising vital funds for the animals at the shelter. Find out more at http://animals-in-need.org

With Christmas just a week away, today’s Advent Calendar window opens for a fantastic independent gift and homeware store in Wellingborough called Lunar Tree, which specialises in unique, handcrafted and ethical goods.

Lunar Tree is dedicated to providing fairly traded, local and ethically sourced goods. Everything they sell is 100% Vegan Friendly & Cruelty Free! Here Amy, the shop’s owner, shows you around her shop:

They stock an exciting range of incense, candles and other smellys including bath bombs, soaps & brulee’s that smell & look good enough to eat. Other Products include:-

• Crystals
• Hand Crafted Jewellery
• Ethnic Clothing & Tapestries
• Wall Hangings, Mirrors & Figurines
• Salt/Crystal Lamps & Candle Holders
• Oil Burners & Oils- Handmade Cards
• Crazy Colours Hair Dye
• Boxes & Trinkets

And a bunch more nice things and stuff to make you feel ZEN! Additionally if you’re thinking about having dreadlocks, this is the place to be. Amy offers customers new dreads, dreadlock maintenance, permanent dreadlock extensions and temporary dread extensions.

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Lunar Tree is at 34 Cambridge Street, Wellingborough, NN8 1DW, two minutes walk from the Swansgate Shopping Centre; find out more on their Facebook page or pop in and have a look for yourself, you won’t come out empty handed!

Our Advent Calendar today features an amazing project called Shop Zero in Northampton and Kettering. They are part of Revolution Zero, who are all about zero hunger, zero waste. Day in day out, their revolutionaries collect food that would otherwise end up in landfill, from shops, manufacturers and farms across the Midlands to nourish people within the community!

Great news, Shop Zero Northampton will be open today from 3-5pm and on Sunday 11-1! They will have £10 boxes with a selection of tinned, baked and frozen goods, and £5 bags with a selection of store goods. Visit them at 134 St James Road, NN5 5LQ. If possible, card payments are preferred.

Another member of the Revolution Zero family is Cafe Zero, a Surplus food kitchen. They rescue food from well known supermarkets and their chefs create delicious, nutritious & well priced meals!

They have also responded to the Covid-19 outbreak by delivering their packages too. This project is called Bags of Good, and is helping those most in need of food aid in, delivering to the most vulnerable members of the community in Northampton, during the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more about about Revolution Zero by clicking on the various links to Facebook pages in this article and by reading the following slides:

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Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Glamis Hall again! Yesterday we told you all about their recycling schemes, today we show you how they are leading the way locally for sustainability. We’ll tell you how they have reduced their carbon footprint and kept costs down by installing solar panels and by changing to electric cars, but first here’s a bit about them…

Glamis Hall consists of a wellbeing centre for the over 50s, a large sports hall with a kitchen and servery, a community meeting room, and sports changing rooms. After being closed by Wellingborough Borough Council in 2014, Glamis Hall reopened as a charity run by volunteers and relatives of clients in January 2015. The Hall’s many daily visitors, who range in age from 51 to 103, help to decide the programming.

Regular activities include a Monday to Friday lunch club, yoga, raffles, and bingo. They have a shop on site and host visits from hairdressers, optometrists and district nurses– making it easy for their clients to access the services they need with minimal travel. Glamis Hall’s mission is to provide an affordable community hub for the residents of the Borough of Wellingborough and the surrounding areas. Here Jo Peploe, Centre Manager of Glamis Hall, talks about their sustainability:

Since it reopened, costs at Glamis Hall have been kept low at less than half the cost of other day centres nearby. With energy prices on the rise, costs for the organisation were likely to increase, and as the running costs are mostly funded by the payments from clients, so were the costs for the clients. Since Glamis Hall is intent on being an ethical and sustainable organisation, it was a “no brainer” for them to look into installing solar panels.

They put their name in the running for a funding initiative by M&S Energy CEF as they were looking for funding to help them buy solar panels. Glamis Hall engaged with the community and secured funding from M&S with 78,837 votes cast by members of the public! The grant from the M&S Energy CEF enabled Glamis Hall to install solar panels on the roof of the centre. The installation took roughly one week and the first switch-on happened on the same day as the annual staff, volunteer and client Christmas party, where they made a big announcement to everyone who came.

For many local residents, the installation also offered a chance to learn more about energy efficiency in general and solar panels in particular. Many have since gone on to make changes in their own lives, such as having smart meters installed.

Since the installation, Glamis Hall are generating much of their own energy – helping to reduce the cost pressure and ensuring funds can be spent on projects for local people. The installation also enabled Glamis Hall to secure a further grant in order to
purchase electric cars that are being used to transport clients to and from the hall and on excursions.

Glamis Hall didn’t stop there, they have made further changes that help make the centre even more energy efficient, including switching to low energy LED lighting throughout the facility and installing double glazed windows. Together with an array of services provided, including their recycling, Glamis Hall is truly sustainable for all!

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for our friends and partners at Glamis Hall, to shine some light on their recycling schemes. Glamis Hall have teamed up with TerraCycle to give local people the opportunity to be able to recycle lots of everyday things that would otherwise end up in landfill.

Don’t you just hate it when you throw anyway a crisp packet or toothpaste into the black bin, as they cannot be accepted in the green bin? Well here is some great news from Jo Peploe, Glamis Hall Centre Manager, who explains all about the recycling services that they offer:

A host of products and packing that can’t be recycled at home, can be recycled at Glamis Hall in Wellingborough. Crisp packets, stamps, bras, batteries, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes, pens and correction fluid containers, and some home hygiene packaging can all be taken to their community centre on Goldsmith Road.

They are open between 8am until 4pm Monday to Friday and 9am till 12 midday during their Indoor Car Boot sales on the 2nd Saturday of the month between September and May. Other times by arrangement, call 01933 677326. Information sheets are available for each scheme below:

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Today’s Advent Calendar opens a window for The Daylight Shop at 2 Cambridge Street, Wellingborough. They are your local charity shop selling an array of goods, preloved and recycled for your enjoyment.  They have a great selection of vinyls and cds; books and clothes. Their bric-a-brac section is a treasure trove waiting to be explored.

All proceeds from the shop go to keeping the Daylight Centre open for the homeless and vulnerable, providing a place for a shower, a meal, and advice. It also means that the Wellingborough Foodbank is able to provide food parcels for those on universal credit, homeless and unemployed.

The Daylight Centre Fellowship is an independent local charity in Wellingborough. They strive to help people in Wellingborough and the surrounding districts of North Northamptonshire in meeting personal challenges that range from complex mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse, learning difficulties, to homelessness or just feeling fragile, isolated and alone.

Wellingborough Foodbank is one of the Daylight Centre’s services, and is designed to help individuals and families in Wellingborough and District who are in crisis. The aim of the Foodbank is to provide people in proven need with basic food and other essential items for a short time until the crisis is resolved or until the appropriate agencies are in a position to assist.

The food which they distribute is donated by many individuals and local organisations; churches, temples and mosques, schools, the public at supermarkets, local businesses and other local groups.

The Daylight Shop is open Tuesday Wednesday Friday and Saturday from 8.30 until 4pm. All donations are gratefully received. Pop in in for a bargain!