Lewes FC celebrate sustainability with Harvey's, Green United and Town Council
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Sustainability is a big word that is only achieved with many small actions – and residents in Lewes are feeling the benefit of a new sustainability drive at the Dripping Pan!
The Lewes FC community has embraced the football club's new reusable cup scheme to such an extent that Harvey's Brewery have helped develop new designs just for fans.
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Hide AdAn initial pilot scheme with Lewes Town Council's Refill Not Landfill cups launched in pre-season and has been an overwhelming success, with around 9,000 single-use plastic cups having already been saved from the bin.


The Town Council now need their cups back, however, in preparation for Lewes Bonfire. And so, Lewes FC and Harvey's are setting out on a new sustainability drive with a brand new range.
The first fresh design was launched last weekend during Lewes Men's clash FA Trophy clash with Bracknell Town, and Lewes Women's league game against Plymouth.
Fans were able to swap their Refill Not Landfill cups for snazzy new Harvey's cups. These limited edition designs will soon only be available in Lewes FC's club shop, while a new standard Lewes FC cup will replace the Refill Not Landfill ones in the club's bars.
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Hide AdReusable cups in Lewes
Lewes has embraced reusable cups for the best part of a year now, ever since Green United and the Town Council launched their Refill Not Landfill cups before Bonfire last year. That initiative prevented thousands of single-use plastic cups being thrown away on Bonfire night at pubs and other locations across the town.
Pubs will operate the same scheme again this year, meaning Lewes FC needs to send their cups back to the Town Hall in preparation for the big night.
And this is where local partners Harvey's stepped in.
"Harveys have been an amazing community partner," says Lewes FC's hospitality manager Bambi Burks. "They have allowed us to improve our services to fans and owners across our community. Together we've been able to deliver a fantastic sustainability drive in our local community, which over the course of the season will stop tons of single-use plastic going in the bin.
"They have also led on our branding for our cups, which is so unique and very 'Lewes'. Sustainability is on the forefront on all of our minds, and it's through football that we can inspire a change in behaviour because people identify with football, and support their local club. It goes to show we don't just have to have inspirations on the pitch but want to keep making an impact off it too!"
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Hide AdHow Lewes FC's cups work
Fans buy a reusable cup for £1 when ordering a drink at the Pan on matchdays. That cup is then their's to keep, take home, and bring to the next match.
If they wish, fans can donate the cup back to the football club, where it is washed, dried and stored – ready for the next game.
The transition from Refill Not Landfill to Harvey's cups gives Lewes FC an opportunity to become a storage hub for the council. Fans are able to swap out their Refill Not Landfill cups for a Lewes FC-branded cup on all matchdays in October, or simply leave the cups at the Pan for collection on any other day in the month.
It's hoped that by the end of the season Lewes FC will have saved more than 80,000 single-use plastic cups from being binned.
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Hide AdBut the club couldn't have launched the scheme without helps from other community partners.
"What the new Harvey's cup replaces is a three-and-a-half month trial with two of the most hands-on organisations in the area: Lewes Town Council and Green United," says Bambi.
"We've worked incredibly closely with councillor Nick Tigg, who has been incredibly accommodating and supported us at the very last minute to enable us to deliver on game days. We're excited to be working with him and the Town Council more closely going forward and we hope this is the beginning of a very exciting relationship with the council and their network.
"We also couldn't have done this project too without Fred Hoad the everyone from Green United. It was their passion for sustainability that got us on board in the first place!"
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Hide AdCouncillor Tigg, chair of Lewes Town Council's finance committee and lead councillor on the reusable cups scheme, adds: "This week the new chair of Sport England Chris Boardman said football clubs need to do much more to improve their sustainability, specifically mentioning reducing single-use plastic. Lewes FC are pioneers and they're well ahead of the game here.
"We're delighted as a Town Council that we were able to help the club make this change, and we're looking to roll this reusable cup scheme out across the entire town.
"Young people in the town have asked us to reduce our plastic use and we need to honour that – so get in touch if you want to be part of it!"
You can read more about Lewes FC's reusable cup drive here
Lewes FC Current Cup Policy:• New cups cost £1 at the bar. Once you buy it, it’s yours. You can take it home and reuse it next time, or hand it back, where it will be cleaned and dried, and put on sale for the next match.• If you exchange your Refill Not Landfill cup at a match in October, you’ll get a standard Lewes FC-branded cup for free. You own it! Bring it back as many times as you like, or leave it with us and we’ll wash it, and put it on sale in the club shop.• You can leave your unwanted Refill Not Landfill cups at the Dripping Pan on any day in October as part of the Town Council's cupboard clearcut! The club will wash and dry them, before sending them to the Town Council to the distributed before Bonfire.• You are also more than welcome to bring your own cup to games! It just needs to have the pint line marked on.
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