So here we are, almost 18 months on since the last update. Oh how the world has changed in that time, and so have we. The team has evolved but our passion and desire to bring the Eco Hub to Elmbridge has only increased. So here’s a little update on our activities whilst we’ve all been locked down, getting vaccinated and hoping for a safe, secure future:
We have been woking very closely with Elmbridge Borough Council to secure the Elmgrove Hall building in Walton-on-Thames, and to all intent and purposes we have secured the building! We are in the final stages of sorting logistics before signing the lease. Included in the agreement is access to the former bowling green for the blind (20 meters from the hall). This will be converted from scrub land into a community allotment and garden.
The team has changed some what. In came Lisa, Anita, Katia and Sue to help us get to this stage. Anita will run the small item recycling initiative. She has great experience in doing such things and runs a similar project from her home.
Unfortunately Ross and Lisa have had to leave us as work and family commitments meant they just didn’t have the time needed to continue to volunteer with us. We wish them all the very best and hope they will have time to come back to us in the future.
Sue Cooper has joined us as a director. She has a lifetime worth of experience in community and environmental projects and campaigns and has already proven herself to be a fantastic addition to the team.
Katia has joined us as accountant. Hopefully we can manage to keep her busy enough through successful grant applications and using the money wisely for the benefit of the people of Elmbridge. Remember, we remain a Not-For Profit, so any money we have will be used to run The Hub for now and the future.
This week we secured our first significant funding grant from the Coop via HUBBUB to help us set up and run the Community Fridge. This will be one of our first and largest projects planned, so it’s reassuring to know we have the resources to get us up and running.
This week we also were admitted into the Fareshare Go UK network. This provides us with dedicated, regular access to surplus food from local shops and supermarkets to help stock the Community Fridge. After all, what good is an empty fridge to anyone!
We have started to build a relationship with Homebase Walton. They have offered to provide us with surplus paint, for the Community Re-paint initiative and plants and seeds for the garden/allotment. Thank you Homebase.
We will very soon be starting a recruitment drive to identify suitable people to volunteer at the Hub. We have so many roles to fill including helping with social media, site maintenance, grant manager, secretary, project leads and most importantly general volunteers who can give up 1-4 hours per week to help generally run the place.
So that’s it for now. We will get back with a further update in a few days when we have more clarity on the lease situation.