Newhaven's Green Centre is promoting community led sustainability

The centre runs a Library of Things, helping the residents of Newhaven to reduce their carbon footprint and save money by sharing. Residents can borrow every day items and return them, much like a library book. This helps to reduce waste and save money.

Similarly, the centre runs a monthly Repair Café, where residents can come along and repair broken goods with the help of their volunteers and range of tools to help.

Rachel Fryer, director of Newhaven Green Centre CIC, said: “The Newhaven Green Centre was formed in 2021. Our aims are to help people reduce waste and consumption and save money through sharing and repairing. Having chatted with and met people from many other community groups and becoming a Community Interest Company, we ran our first Repair Café in March 2022 which we continue to run monthly, saving hundreds of items from being incinerated.

“We also operate a Library of Things, so people can borrow things they only use occasionally such as camping and catering equipment. It's free to join and we are continuing to expand our stock. We've also hosted public meetings about waste and recycling and we help to recycle difficult-to-recycle things (such as corks, blister packs). We have a regular pop-up stall at Newhaven library on a Thursday morning (10am to 12pm) where you can also browse our free 'bring-and-take' table.”

Library items can be collected and returned at their stalls at Newhaven Library, High Street, every Thursday from 10am to 12am, at the Mencap Hall, Riverside, every Tuesday evening from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, or at their monthly repair cafés at Meeching Hall, Fort Road, usually on the second Sunday of the month, from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

Future Repair Café dates are on Sunday May 14, Sunday June 11, and Sunday July 9. They can now offer welding at the Repair Café and an IT repairer as well as the usual zip repairs, clothes, kettles, toasters and so on.

If you'd like to find out more or get involved, visit their website at newhavengreencentre.com or email [email protected].

READ THIS:

WATCH: A day in the life of a Newhaven watchkeeper

The coastal strip left with no defences from worsening erosion

Raw sewage was spilled into Newhaven's waterways for 500 hours throughout 2022