Events

Autumn Produce Swap

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St Bees Green Future ran this seasonal swap event to encourage growers to bring along surplus produce from their gardens and allotments, dishes made from their produce and recipe ideas for using up a glut of fruit and vegetables, all helping to reduce food waste. Seeds were also welcomed to encourage growing.

A range of produce was donated including apples, beetroot, elderberries, herbs, lettuce, jam and pears. And a lovely selection of dishes to sample including apple cake, apple juice, chocolate coated apple and pear slices, courgette galette and a courgette cake, with various other recipe ideas to browse through. There was also the opportunity to try some local apple varieties – Egremont Russet and Keswick Codlin. After the event, the surplus produce was placed on the Community Garden stall for others to use.

St Bees Green Future plans to run some further food-related events, so keep a look out for future events.

Courgetter galette on a plate - two slices have been eaten already.
7 Egremont Russet apples on a labelled sheet of white A4 paper.

Hobby Item Swap

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To mark Great Big Green Week in June, St Bees Green Future organised a hobby item swap. Suggestions to run a swap related to craft items, outdoor and sports equipment had been made, so this swap tied these themes together. The event was popular and lots of swapping of craft items took place, including fabrics, wool, kits, patterns and books. The remaining craft items were shared between St Bees Village Primary, Little Learners Nursery and the local Beavers group. Given that it was so popular, there will be another craft swap in the future.

People in a hall looking at tables with craft items placed on them.

Plant, Seed and Garden Tool Swap

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In May, St Bees Green Future ran a plant, seed and tool swap. This was in response to interest in garden-themed swaps from the suggestion box for St Bees Swap Together events. We also ran an activity to make little pots out of newspaper, which proved popular, allowing attendees to sow their seeds at the event. A volunteer from Cumbria Master Composters supported the event, providing information and advice about home composting.

Lots of plants and seeds were swapped and some of the tools were donated to the Community Garden. There were some surplus tomato, leek and onion plants leftover from the event, which were placed on the Community Garden’s stall at the entrance to the Priory drive.

The plan is to run a further plant and seed swap in the future, so look out for details.

Image of people in a hall looking at a plant stall, making newspaper pots and talking to a volunteer about composting.

Earth Day 2024 – Raising Awareness of Plastic Consumption

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Each year on 22nd April people around the world mark Earth Day. This worldwide event is an opportunity to raise awareness of protecting the environment by engaging people and helping to raise environmental issues on national and international agendas. In 2024 the theme is “Planet vs Plastics” which highlights the harm plastic pollution can do to the health of humans and the planet.

St Bees Green Future created a poster on the theme of simple swaps to reduce single-use plastic, while also saving money. This poster was displayed in prominent windows and shared via social media. The aim was to get people thinking about what else they can do to reduce plastic consumption and reuse what they can, and to share these ideas with others.

St Bees Green Future also took the opportunity to remind residents where they can recycle plastics that can’t go in their kerbside bins and boxes, such as dental items, pens and soft plastics. A list of collection points within St Bees and West Cumbria was shared via social media.