Autumn Produce Swap

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.

Hobby Item Swap

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

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.

St Bees Swap Together

St Bees Green Future was successful in applying for one of Zero Carbon Cumbria’s Community Climate Grants. The grant will fund St Bees Swap Together, a series of free swap events in 2025.

As well as continuing with quarterly clothes swaps, there will be a swap event in May for plants, seeds and garden tools, and the committee is liasing with Cumbria Master Composters for a volunteer to attend this event. During Great Big Green Week in June, there will be a swap for hobby items, including sports and outdoor wear and equipment, as well as craft items. For Second Hand September, there will be a swap (theme to be confirmed) alongside a community meal to use up surplus produce. If you have any suggestions for future swap events, please let St Bees Green Future know: stbeesgreenfuture@gmail.com 

St Bees Swap Together is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and is part of the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership’s ambitious emission reduction programme to make Cumbria carbon neutral by 2037.