We are very excited to announce ECO HUB, the new home for Wellingborough Eco Group! Opening from 1stSeptember 2022 and available 7 days a week at Glamis Hall in the Community Room for lots of events and activities.
Heather Saunders, Chair of Trustees at Glamis Hall and Jonathan Hornett, Secretary of Wellingborough Eco Group, signed the lease this week for this exciting new facility. And other Eco Group members joined in, including Emma who is looking to run a couple of projects from the ECO HUB.
We will be expanding our current projects and introducing lots more, all focused on improving our environment and helping local people. New projects on the way include an eco craft group, an eco kids group, veggie/vegan food events, cooking demonstrations, Energy Savers workshops, a spoken word poetry club and more of of current projects.
Thank you firstly to the 15 litter picking heroes that took part in our Two Hour Tidy Up and more today. We picked 16 bags of litter, a plank of wood and a broken scooter. Thank you also to Dave from North Northants Council collected the bags.
This Month’s group litter pick took place on this morning (Saturday 25th June) in Bassett’s Close at the Armed Forces Family Fun Day. We set up our Recycling Station and stall at 9:30 in the park and litter picked between 10 and 12. We litter picked the park and the surrounding streets. We also carried on litter picking through out the fun day until 4!
Thank you to Jonathan B, Judy, Tim and Rachel and Tim, Glen and Hazel, Freddie and Georgina, Jane and Ben, Jonathan H, Emma and Billy, plus thank you to Emma from Wellingborough Town Council and Emily for continuing to pick up litter in the afternoon. Great to see you all, well done!
Thank you also to Simon and Jonathan for running our games stall at the fun day. Simon’s giraffes were very popular with almost every child who attended having a go, our ping pong pots also had people engaged. Thank you to everyone who join in with us today and thank you to Royal British Legion – Wellingborough & District and Wellingborough Town Council for organising this enjoyable event!
Wellingborough Swap Shop and Repair Café are onthis Saturday!
Wellingborough Eco Group and Glamis Hall are hosting the Repair Café and Wellingborough Swap Shop on Saturday 11th June, 9 -12. Both will be in the Community Room and we have a couple of other stalls with us outside too!
Repair Café
Repair Cafes are community events that match people who need stuff fixed with people who like fixing things. Repair Cafes are completely non-commercial. There are no promises and no guarantees, but if something can be saved the repairers will give it their best efforts. Repairers are always keen to teach you how to do the repair – or at least have you watch while they do it.
A bicycle, clothing in need of repair, small electrical or electronic appliances, lamps, toys, mobile phones, laptops, printers, items that need gluing, a clean/repair etc. You can basically bring anything you can carry that will not make a mess in the venue.
Whatever it is, it might not even be broken – just dirty, and you don’t know how to clean it without damaging it – or you can’t work out how to use it without the manual – bring it along! There is no charge for entry or repair but donations are gratefully received and help pay for costs.
See you on Saturday morning at Glamis Hall where we try to fix your broken items for FREE!
Wellingborough Swap Shop
We will be in the Community Room and all items will be available for swaps or a small donation to the group. You can bring something and swap it for something else or you can buy something on a ‘pay as you feel’ basis with a donation to the group.
Please can everyone keep toes, eyes, fingers, legs, arms – ANYTHING and EVERYTHING crossed for some good weather so we can get everything out and some bits outside for you to browse through. We’ll have the gazebos up for a couple of stalls that will be joining us too!
Food Sharers will also have a few bits for you and their ‘Bargain Buys’ table. All Bargain Buys items are items we have been offered to purchase, we always price them lower than the shops so that the low price we have paid gets passed on to you. Plus Wellingborough Baby Bank will have selected items out in return for monetary donations to their cause to purchase more nappies and milk.
So, pop along, grab a bargain or swap with us, get your broken items fixed for free and support the other stalls. See you there!
The next session at the Community Garden is today at 2pm, when we will be moving the rest of the grass to the new compost bin and finishing the outside of the latest raised bed. Everything will need watering as we are not due any more rain this month…
So join in with Gina, Wednesday 27th April, 2pm, Stanwell Community Garden, Old Hardwick Road (at the end of the cycle track off Medway Drive) Just look for the flags!
Join Wellingborough Eco Group and Wellie Wombles this afternoon at Glamis Hall in their Community Room for all of this:
Wellingborough Swap Shop has lots of clothes, toys, books and crockery that we collected from Rushden Transport Museum as part of Nick Knowles Big House Clearout. Much of the clothing and household items have been saved from landfill for the Wellingborough Ukrainian guests and sponsors but there’s still loads left! All available as swaps or for a small donation.
Teddy Tombola 🧸 for the kids because it’s half term, just 50p for 5 tickets and 1/5 tickets could win you a Teddy or even an Easter Egg!
Tuesday Tidy Ups, why not have a go at litter picking? We have the pickers, hoops and bags for you to borrow, the parks have been busy which unfortunately usually means so have the litter louts.
Food Sharers has lots of fresh food, saved from local supermarkets and it’s all FREE! Our food club has drinks, popcorn and more, plus tomato and strawberry plants so you can join in the spirit of our Community Allotment and grow your own.
Plus, if that wasn’t enough already, we have FREE Fairtrade tea and coffee available from Co-op Member Pioneer Wellingborough. Pop in for a hot drink and join in with everything else! See you between 2-6 this afternoon!
Several years ago Gina decided that the area at the top of the cycle track that cuts across Medway Drive would make a lovely community garden. It was a waste of space created when Niort Way was made. The cycle track carries on down the hill but the old road goes on to a dead end. Perfect for a wildflower meadow and some raised beds on the tarmac area.
The County Council said it was not their land and Wellingborough Council cut the grass but would not admit it was their land. The current Mayor at the time told her to “Go for it! Who is going to bother about a few plants?”
So began her guerilla garden. She stopped the council cutting the grass and let it grow wild. She sowed wildflower seeds and yellow rattle to weaken the grass and let the wildflowers grow. She made raised beds out of old pallets and planted vegetables. Just when she was about to get people involved, COVID hit. So she carried on alone.
The yellow rattle grew and thrived. The raised beds survived. Parsley did very well. More wildflowers appeared and so did the butterflies. Now it is finally time to see if anyone else is interested in a community garden. If you would like to come and see it Gina will be there this Saturday at 11am.
It is time to hang up the bunting again, put straw round the strawberries, plant radishes and water the raised beds. If you or your children would like to help, come along on Saturday 16th April and lend a hand. (All children must be accompanied by an adult) Let’s hope it’s sunny!
A Wellingborough charity and community activists have successfully accessed funds to help local residents, community groups and local business work together to begin to tackle the many challenges we face as a result of climate change.
Glamis Hall for All have been awarded just over £20,000 by North Northants Council (NNC) from its Recovery and Innovation Grant. This will be used to deliver a range of community events, practical actions and training sessions to support people, community groups and local business to better understand climate and environmental challenges and to create local solutions to help cut carbon emissions and support people and communities transition to more sustainable ways of living and working.
Inspired by the presentations and speeches at COP26 last Nov 2021, Glamis Hall’s Chair of Trustees Heather Saunders, said ‘We are deeply concerned about the lack of action regarding climate change locally and want to work with others across Wellingborough to kick start local action and learning, helping us work out how we can respond in positive ways to the enormous challenges we face’.
Glamis Hall for All, a Wellingborough based charity, is no stranger to taking on big challenges, having been born out of community action to save the day centre from closure in 2014. Since then, the community run centre has gone from strength to strength, supporting many families and older residents as well as playing a prominent role in helping many thousands of struggling local residents during the most difficult COVID days.
‘We pride ourselves in working alongside many community groups to make a difference in all parts of people’s lives, says Heather. ‘One such partnership has been with Wellingborough Eco Group and Wellie Wombles, where we regularly support their weekly litter picks, host the Wellingborough Repair Cafe and Swap Shop and help struggling families access excess food that would otherwise end up in landfill.’
As an organisation already transforming the way they operate, Glamis Hall for All is determined to help local people and business learn how to do the same. ‘When we started, we wanted to be as ‘green’ as possible’, says Heather. ‘We now have solar power generated from panels on our roof which, as well as reducing our energy bills, also powers our 6 electric/hybrid cars (funded by a National Lottery Power to Change grant) that bring centre users to and from our day centre. We are delighted with the results and want to do more for our charity and to help others locally. Glamis Hall and its partners, Wellingborough Eco Group, jumped at the chance to apply for funds to offer a range of learning and activities to help us begin this important work, and with new gas heating boilers due to be ‘phased out’ by 2030 and petrol/diesel cars soon becoming a thing of the past, the need to tackle these challenges could not be more urgent’, says Heather.
Marion Turner-Hawes will be coordinating this project.
The range of activities planned through the project include; holding a number of climate conversations and workshops about issues such as how to heat our homes, how to travel in a low carbon way, better understanding of climate issues by attending Carbon Literacy training, and learning how to ‘map’ our own carbon footprint. Residents and businesses will be able to hear from specialists on topics such as local renewable energy generation, how to feed ourselves more sustainably, and how to change our homes and businesses to ‘adapt’ to the many of the ‘baked in’ consequences of existing climate impacts, such as increased flooding events. Many people locally have already suffered as a result of this..
There will be lots of opportunities for practical action and this can be done individually, by organisation, or even by street or block. We also plan to explore how those from BAME communities and residents living on the lowest incomes can upgrade their homes with new energy options, and save money, making sure we can all transition to more affordable to rewarding lives.
‘This project is an exciting opportunity and just a start for the town, says Heather, ‘and we hope to work with the local Council and many partners and people to move it forward successfully. Any residents, community groups, organisations and businesses interested in this work are invited to get in touch’.
People wishing to take part should contact the Project Manager, Marion Turner-Hawes, on marion@glamishall.org.uk or call 07584 350 308
This month we have featured lots of great community and eco-friendly services available in and around Wellingborough on our Advent Calendar. It has been a real treat being able to talk to so many amazing people, and it’s been a pleasure sharing their groups, charities and businesses with you. For those that may have missed some of our Advent Calendar windows, here are all of them:
All of the above and more are on Wellingborough Eco Map and on the Wellingborough Organisations website. Please do support them or use their services, and share our blog posts and videos to promote them. Our videos are also available on our YouTube channel. If you want to discover more ‘eco-friendly’ services available locally, last year’s Advent Calendar is also worth a look.
Just for fun, here is a Christmas treat for everyone:
Festive fun with the Raunds Ukulele Group, featuring two of our committee members, Judy and Freddie
We would like to thank you all for everything you have done for us and for our community this year.We wish everyone a very happy and healthy Christmas.
Its the final Advent Calendar window of this year, and it seems apt to open it for Made with Many and their Black Community Forum with greetings from Kwanzaa! After the success of this year’s Black History Month and Diwali events, Made With Many’s Black Community Forum have set up two further activities in Wellingborough.
You can enjoy two free celebrations of Kwanzaa at the end of this year and the beginning of 2022! Kuumba or Creativity will be celebrated at Greetings From Kwanzaa on 31st December and a celebration of all Seven Principles of Kwanzaa is happening on 1st January 2022, both at Wellingborough African Caribbean Association.
The festival of Kwanzaa is celebrated every year from 26th December lasting for seven days and coming to a festive end on 1st January. For those seven days, each day a different principle is highlighted – Unity, Self-determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith.
Come and celebrate the 6th principle of Kwanzaa, ‘Kuumba’, or ‘Creativity’ on the sixth day of Kwanzaa, Friday 31st December, 2pm-5pm. A free event for the whole family with an amazing line-up of artists leading on fun with creative activities that everyone can participate in:
Cinnamon Arts Group – Creating a Kwanzaa banner with creative input from everyone
Lemonpop Workshops – Make your own Kwanzaa Card and help create a Kwanzaa Canvas
Gerry Elliott – Creating the music of Kwanzaa giving everyone a chance on the drums
Followed by some light refreshments and a chance to win some prizes in a Kwanzaa Quiz! And the finishing the afternoon with performances by the Singer Serwaah and the UAA drummers and dancers leaving with your Kwanzaa Goody Bag!
You are also invited in the spirit of Kwanzaa to a celebration of The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa on Saturday 1st January, 11am – 2pm , with Brother Omowale leading the ceremony. Enjoy drumming, singing, storytelling, activities and gifts for children, share the soul food feast and much more!
Initially, Made with Many had received funding from the National Lottery for their programme of cultural activities in both Corby and Wellingborough from 2020 until 2023; and earlier this month, Arts Council England announced plans to invest further National Lottery funding in the Made With Many programme, to allow their work to continue until the end of March 2025.
Helen Willmott, programme director of Made With Many, said: “We are thrilled that this additional investment from Arts Council England will enable us to continue the Made With Many programme across both Corby and Wellingborough, thanks to National Lottery players. We’ll be able to continue to offer a wide range of creative activities to communities, putting local people in the lead of their own cultural experiences and working with incredible artists to co-create new work.”
Made with Many are a community-led arts programme covering Wellingborough and Corby, which produces events and activities designed to surprise, delight and inspire. As that magical time of year approaches it has been great to see them support activities in the community that bring people together at Christmas.
Their programme aims to encourage more people than ever before to take the lead in experiencing, creating and taking part in high-quality arts and cultural activities. Through conversations with local people and community decision-making panels, Made With Many puts the community at the heart of commissioning artists and producing new and exciting events.
One example was when The Eloquent Fold (Made With Many Associate Artists, Carole Miles and Phiona Richards) visited the Daylight Centre at the beginning of December to run some creative workshops to decorate the centre. The lanterns and tree decorations they produced were bright and cheerful, and lots of people at the centre were keen to get involved.
Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Teamwork Trust who are organising Disability Forums, as part of a wider project called Community Champions. Teamwork Trust is working with Support Northamptonshire on the project, which aims to accelerate the offering of helpful advice, guidance and vaccination information to the disabled community to ensure that they remain safe.
Community Champions provide practical help to enable IT access, access to food and other provisions as well as encouraging people to take part in events and activities that contribute positively to physical and mental wellbeing. Wellingborough Eco Group member, Karon, is one of the Disability Community Champions. Here she is talking about this and their next Disability Forum:
Karon said: “The Community Champions were set up during the pandemic to support disabled people in the community, a part of this project was to set up a disability forum, because there was no disability forum in North Northamptonshire. The Disability Forum has been set up to share information with disabled people and also the organisations that support them.
“From having the disability forum and our discussions, we decided it would be a good idea to have a booklet for people that have been newly disabled or long-term sick, to give information on resources and services that are available, the type of support people can get, the benefits that people can go for, and anything else related to disability. The next disability Forum is on the 20th January and we encourage you all to come along.”
More than 50 adults came along to their first forum, the online event in July was attended by a mix of service providers, council officers and people with disabilities who raised concerns about how life without restrictions will make them unsafe. They also said that that those with underlying health issues are still the most vulnerable in society and that their views are not being respected.
The next Disability Forum will be on January 20th, their fourth bi-monthly forum. The forums are there for the views of disabled people to be heard, do join in on the Disability Forum in January if you can, more details are available at www.teamworktrust.co.uk/events
About Teamwork Trust
Teamwork Trust is a Northamptonshire charity and social enterprise with over 35 years experience, which works with and supports autistic adults, people with learning disabilities and individuals with mental health needs.
Teamwork is a successful social enterprise that helps vulnerable adults to achieve their goals. They care and are passionate about ensuring that everyone has access to the same chances, choices and opportunities. They embrace and celebrate individual needs and abilities. Service users help to steer and plan everything they do.
Their three centres, based in Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough, are friendly, safe and supportive places in which service users make new friends, access education and employment experiences, and take part in on and off-site activities and classes. They have a packed programme of living and learning projects, and activities, as well as wellbeing and counselling programmes.
They run ‘factory floor’ facilities from their three centres providing a range of assembling, reworking, finishing, labelling, packing and fulfilment services, to offer reliable commercial outsourcing service offers a cost-effective and efficient option for businesses, while giving adults with mental health needs, learning and physical disabilities valuable vocational experience at the same time. The Wellingborough centre is based at:
Teamwork Trust 38A Oxford Street Wellingborough Northamptonshire NN8 4JG
