Sustainable Bucklebury is a new community group that began in the summer and was launched at the Bucklebury Beer Festival in August 2024, where we had a stand in conjunction with West Berkshire Green Exchange. Our first few months have been spent gauging local interest in taking targeted local action to live more sustainably. In September we met with local MP Olivia Bailey in Marlston at Kim Fleming’s flower farm; where we introduced our new initiative and discussed sustainable farming, tackling food waste, the need for better public transport links, and reducing consumption of single use plastics.
We have already had a great response and over 100 people have signed up to our mailing list or Facebook group. We held our first meeting in the Oak Room, Upper Bucklebury on 15 October 2024, which was attended by 20 people who were keen to find out more and hopefully get involved. After introductions (and tea, coffee and cake), the second half of our meeting was spent brainstorming ideas. There was a wide range of suggestions, some of which we will be looking to get underway in the short term and some bigger project ideas which will need further investigation!
Our group meeting was attended by Hazel and David from Newbury & Thatcham Repair Café who explained their project and would welcome Bucklebury residents to attend.
Since its launch in February, Newbury & Thatcham Repair Café has rescued 451 items – or nearly 1000 kg – from waste processing! Events take place one Sunday per month, alternating between Newbury (Methodist Church Hall, RG14 1AN; afternoons) and Thatcham (Frank Hutchings Community Hall, RG18 4QH; mornings), with the next one coming up in Thatcham on 1 December, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Skilled volunteers do their best to repair electrical and electronic items, clothing, textiles, jewellery, ceramics, and other household objects; tool sharpening, simple bicycle repairs, and advice on IT and mobile phones are additional services offered. Visitors are invited to have a cuppa and a chat while they wait, and there is generally a bustling and cheerful atmosphere. In addition to the frequent toasters, vacuum cleaners, and lamps, some of the more unusual items successfully repaired were a phonograph and a metal peacock sculpture. Repairs are free, but visitor donations help to fund future events. For more information, visit www.repaircafe.org/en
In time we are hopeful that we can run our own Bucklebury Repair Café but we will need plenty of volunteers to get this underway. We want to make the Sustainable Bucklebury group an enjoyable community endeavour, whether you want to simply access more information, occasionally join a project for a couple of hours or get more involved. If you have time, ideas, comments or energy to spare, or just want to know more, please get in touch.