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Come and swap or grab a bargain this Tuesday at ECO HUB Swanspool Pavilion, in our Black Tuesday Electrical Sale. We will have hundreds of electrical items in the hall, all for swaps or a small donation. So, if you fancy a next to new hifi, a great printer, or even a good iron, we’ll sort you out.

The point is that there’s a better way than Black Friday, by saving electrical items and reusing them, you will save lots of money whilst also helping the environment. Electrical waste is the fastest-growing type of waste, and it’s important to reuse electrical items, or recycle them, to conserve resources and reduce climate change.

Black Friday itself creates significant waste through excessive consumption, packaging, returns, and emissions from manufacturing and delivery. A large portion of Black Friday purchases ends up in landfills, especially impulse buys that are quickly discarded or damaged. Choose change, choose eco-friendly or second-hand items, and avoid unnecessary purchases.

SWAP DON’T SHOP!

Wellingborough Swap Shop is a local exchange where you can get something you want by swapping things you no longer need or by making a small donation to the group. You could describe it as a kind of bring-and-buy sale with the option to swap. Participants do not need to bring anything in order to take away goods, a pay as you feel donation to the group works too.

Make the most eco-friendly shopping trip in town, at Wellingborough’s cheapest charity shop, we have clothes, books, toys and this Tuesday we’re electric! All items are PAT Tested and you can try before you buy. Come to the BLACK TUESDAY Electrical Sale this Tuesday 10-6 at ECO HUB Swanspool Pavilion!

Wellingborough Eco Group Nature Rangers

After a successful planting season last winter, we were planning on planting lots more trees tomorrow in Kilborn Park, but due to Storm Claudia we have had to cancel this and postpone until December.

Due to the amount of rain, and that it is unlikely to stop before we are planting tomorrow, we and North Northamptonshire Council think that it would be prudent to cancel our Tree Planting tomorrow.

Weather warnings issued.

We have an amber weather warning until midnight tonight then the yellow warning continues until tomorrow morning. There will be more than a month’s rain, which poses a significant safety risk.

If the rain continues it will be slippery and muddy, and the forecast is not good. It’s a tough one to call but ultimately want to make sure everyone is safe. So unfortunately it’s best to postpone.Join us to plant trees next month.North Northamptonshire Council have all the trees sorted and everything ready to go, but the next Saturday available for us is 20th December, so we have set that as the date.

We will be planting whips again with North Northamptonshire Council, who will bring along about 300 trees. We will be planting trees to replace those we have planted, that have not survived the dry weather.

Good news is, some of the trees that looked dead have sprung back to life and are doing well! But there’s still plenty of gaps to be filled in with new trees.

Come and plant a tree!

Sorry about tomorrow, do join us on Saturday 20th December 10-1 in Kilborn Park. More details and maps at – https://wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk/eco/tree-planting/

Wellingborough Eco Group

Winter Warmers are back, this time with chair yoga!

This weeks Winter Warmer will take place at ECO HUB on Sunday 16th November 12-3pm. We will be serving free hot food throughout the session, plus there’s a chair yoga session for you to join in with from 1pm, or just come for free tea and coffee, everyone is welcome!

The Chair Yoga will be led by Dr Sonal Shar, a qualified Homeopath, who also works as holistic therapist and will bring details of workshops she runs for mental health, arthritis and joint pains, skin conditions and many more ailments where homeopathy (alternative medicine) helps and provides a complete cure.

The fun is not reserved for Sundays, you can come to our Happy Cafe Winter Warm Space on Tuesdays 10am-6pm and Thursdays 10am-2pm, and to Replay Fun Fridays 6-8pm too. Plus hot food from Food Sharers is served up 12-2pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it’s all free! Attached are some pictures from today!

Winter Warm Spaces and Winter Warmers are part of North Northamptonshire Council‘s Warm, Safe Space scheme. They are there for anyone and offer warmth, hot drinks and social activities for free. Our Winter Warm Space is also an Action for Happiness Happy Cafe to offer helpful advice where we can.

Come and enjoy good company, free tea and coffee, fun activities and great food. See you at our Chair Yoga Winter Warmer this Sunday!

Wellingborough Eco Group & Wellie Wombles

Get your fancy dress ready, this Month’s Two Hour Tidy Up is a Halloween special!

It takes place at Twilight on the last day before the clocks go backwards! Join us on Saturday (25th October) at London Road Cemetery and along The Walks! We will be setting up our Recycling Station at the entrance to cemetery on Castle Road and The Walks (map below) from 3:30, for a spooky litter pick between 4:00 and 6:00.

Join us for our monthly Two Hour Tidy Up!

This location has been chosen because we have had reports that the cemetery and The Walks are heavily littered. We tidied this area for Halloween last October, but unfortunately due to some messy people there’s a lot to do. It could be cold, so free refreshments including tea and coffee will be available.

Madame Cholet herself, Georgina, will be making the soup for all Wombles at ECO HUB Swanspool Pavilion, just over the road, which will be open from 5:30 until 7:00, for some free homemade soup, and for tea and coffee too. Come and have a treat after our Halloween Tidy Up.

To help us and keep us safe at this and future litter picks, Wellingborough Eco Group have purchased some litter pickers, hi-vis vests and safety equipment including road signs, so everything is provided but please bring your own gloves and do dress up if you can. Join in, bring your friends and family, ALL WELCOME!

Get ready for a spooktacular afternoon of fun and laughter at our Eco Club for Kids Children’s Halloween Party!

👻 Come along in your favourite costume and enjoy games where you can win a trick or a treat, plus crafts and activities — all completely free!

🎃 Plus there will be children’s lunch bags for just £3, and adult refreshments available to purchase.

📅 Friday 31st October
🕛 12 noon – 3pm
📍 Swanspool Pavilion, Swanspool Parade, NN8 2BZ

Join in the fun, bring your friends, bring your imagination, and let’s make this Halloween one to remember!

And when it gets dark, the fun continues…

Halloween Display and Games

As it gets dark, our friends, Terri and her family, are opening up their garden for a fright night of spooky fun!

They and their ghouls and witches, will be raising funds for ECO HUB, so we can continue to offer our services, and bring you our Warm, Safe Space starting in November…

📅 Friday 31st October
🕛 3pm – 9pm
📍 143 Kiln Way, Queensway, NN8 3TL

Give a donation to see the display if you dare, and have a go on their tombola and guess how many sweets are in the jar for a bit of fun!

Walk of the Witches

Wellingborough Town Council invite you to gather your bravest friends, to step into the shadows to experience the spine-chilling Walk of the Witches in the hauntingly beautiful Swanspool Gardens.

📅 Date: Friday 31st October
🕛 6pm – 9pm
📍 Swanspool Pavilion and Gardens, Swanspool Parade, NN8 2BZ
Tickets: Available now from Wellingborough Town Council, book here.

Expect eerie encounters, mysterious stories, and a Halloween night you won’t forget! Join in if you dare.

We are hosting an Open Day in Swanspool Pavilion to show you all of the projects that we run, these include some games and displays from:

• Community Allotment
• Nature Rangers
• Eco-Crafters
• Wellingborough Swap Shop
• Wellingborough Repair Café
• Food Sharers
• Happy Cafe
• Wellie Wombles
• School Uniform Bank (SUB)

We are also hosting a Craft Fair at the same time, with stalls from local artists, plus there will be teas, coffees and cakes, and ECO HUB will be open for Swap Shop and Food Sharers too!

Book your stall today!

If you would like a stall, or even a stand to show what your community organisation does, please email info@wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk or call/message 07311 705705. Craft stalls £7, community stalls free!

See you on Saturday 4th October 10-2 at Swanspool Pavilion and ECO HUB for a lively Open Day and a lovely Craft Fair, see you there!

Wellingborough Eco Group and Wellie Wombles

This Month’s Two Hour Tidy Up takes place on Saturday 27th September on Park Farm Industrial Estate. We will be setting up our Recycling Station from 9:30 in the field off of Glamis Hall’s car park, for litter picking between 10 and 12. We will be litter picking the whole estate, and Queensway Park leading up to the estate.

This location has been chosen because we have had a lot of people tell us it needs litter picking! As a group we have tidied up this area before, but not as a group pick so far this year, so there’s a lot to do to make the estate tidy again. See map below for the location:

To help us and keep us safe at this and future litter picks, Wellingborough Eco Group have some litter pickers, hi-vis vests and safety equipment including road signs, so everything is provided but please bring your own gloves if you can. Free cold drinks plus tea and Coffee will be available for all litter pickers, plus hand sanitiser will also be available, do join us if you can, ALL WELCOME!

Wellingborough Repair Cafe is moving! This is because we need more space for more fixers, so we can repair more items!

Many thanks to all at Glamis Hall for hosting us up to now and helping to make the Repair Café a success. We felt that we now need a bit more space, so we will be at the Victoria Centre starting from Saturday the 13th September.

Judy Sumner – Project Leader

Plus now there is no need to book, just turn up with your broken item. There may only be time for 1 item per person if we are busy. And we are part of ‘Celebrate Wellingborough‘, a new weekend long event from Wellingborough Town Council to promote local activities.

Wellingborough Repair Café is repairing broken items together, getting advice, encounters and inspiration. Repair Cafés are community events that match people who need stuff fixed with people who like fixing things.

Repair Cafés 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.

Costs?

You just pay for any parts needed, plus a voluntary donation if you can. There is no charge for entry or repair but donations are gratefully received and help pay for costs.

What?

You can basically bring anything* you can carry that will not make a mess in the venue. Here are some suggestions:

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.

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. *Bring anything apart from microwaves and CRT devices such as old style televisions.

You can even bring more than one thing – though to be fair, we have limited each booking to one item, so you may have to join the queue a few times!

New location!

Victoria Centre
46-50 Palk Road
Wellingborough NN8 1HR

When?

On the Second Saturday of each month, 9am – 12 noon (except August)

NEW – No need to book!

Previously we have asked anyone bringing an item to be fixed at the Repair Café to register it beforehand. From Saturday the 13th September 2025 we will be trying a different system. Rather than registering, you can just turn up!

There may be a bit of a wait, but there will be hot drinks available and you can have a look round if you want to and we will give you a number so you don’t have to queue. We will try it out for a few months and see which system works best.

Please bear in mind that not everything can be fixed, but we will do our best. See you on Saturday 13th September 9am-12 midday, we look forward to seeing you and what you bring in…

*Click here to read the House Rules before bringing your item.

Wellingborough Eco Group and Wellie Wombles

This Month’s Two Hour Tidy Up takes place on Saturday 30th August in Hemmingwell Park Park. We will be setting up our Recycling Station from 9:30 in the field off of Guillemot Lane, for litter picking between 10 and 12. We will be litter picking the whole park, and the nearby streets.

This location has been chosen because we have had a lot of people tell us it needs litter picking! As a group we have tidied up this area before, but not as a group pick so far this year, so there’s a lot to do to make the park tidy again. See map below for the location:

To help us and keep us safe at this and future litter picks, Wellingborough Eco Group have some litter pickers, hi-vis vests and safety equipment including road signs, so everything is provided but please bring your own gloves if you can. Free cold drinks plus tea and Coffee will be available for all litter pickers, plus hand sanitiser will also be available, do join us if you can, ALL WELCOME!

We cleared our ECO HUB over the weekend, finishing at 1:30 this morning. There was so much stuff it took longer than expected. It looks really sad, but it needed to be completely cleared for building works

Thank you to everyone who helped us do this. Thank you Anne, Eileen, Emma, Lily and Clover, Kyle and Sheila, Jonathan, Michael and team, and Sam. Thank you all for your support.

Massive thank you to Glamis Hall for all of your support and for putting up with us. We have had a very happy and busy three years as ECO HUB, plus as Tuesday Tidy Ups and more before. Thank you to the Trustees, management and staff.

Wellingborough Swap Shop, SUB, Happy Cafe and Food Sharers will continue to be on tomorrow, and every Tuesday and Thursday in August at Swanspool Pavilion! Plus we will have Replay Fun Fridays too. Thank you Wellingborough Town Council for accommodating us at short notice.

Thank you to everyone who uses our services and supports us. We are sad we have closed at Glamis Hall, but so happy to be able to bring our services to Swanspool, which promises to be a very busy month in the Pavillion and gardens!

ECO HUB is now based at Swanspool Pavillion, Swanspool Parade, Wellingborough NN8 2BZ. We are there during August temporarily whilst Glamis Hall has building works. Thank you to Wellingborough Town Council for hosting us!