Always on
This project successfully funded on 4th September 2020, you can still support them with a donation.
Eco Centre Expansion
Uttoxeter, England, United Kingdom
£5,155
raised so far
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Aim
Help us grow our eco centre, by moving to a new central building & creating a vibrant community hub offering much-needed support & services
Our Aim
As a nonprofit community organisation, we aim to better the health & wellbeing of people & planet, through environmental education & awareness, to reduce our impact on the climate.
Current Situation
We have a small Eco Centre based on the outskirts of Uttoxeter at a garden centre. On site we have an upcycling craft workshop for our volunteers to turn waste plastic and items into useful products. We have a small classroom to train people in sustainable skills, a community Zero Waste Shop and a small outside space.
We quickly outgrew our site and we now need a bigger premises that we can grow into, which will enable us to:
- meet the demand of community skills needs
- better the health and well being of our service users
- provide a more experiential eco hub
- support community partner visits i.e. from schools and clubs
- be central and accessible to the community
- provide access to more eco alternatives
- expand our workshop to provide more volunteer opportunities
- create an immersive eco experience to educate and stimulate awareness
- create more employment opportunities and work experience in the green sector
The Solution
We have found a three storey building steeped in Uttoxeter heritage and in the heart of the town. The new premises will mean we can create a vibrant community hub consisting of:
- Eco Education Hub (classrooms & training pods for use by the community, schools & skills training)
- Wellness Studio (for improving community health and wellbeing)
- Exhibition Space & Interactive VR Learning Suite
- Craft studio (to expand our existing volunteer programme)
- Recycling Station (for items with problem packaging)
- A Zero Waste Shop (expanding our current shop to offer more to our community)
- Garden Café (Social enterprise)
- Indoor Low-Carbon Garden
This will enable us to provide eco projects, education & skills training, employment and apprenticeship opportunities, volunteering placements, community health and wellbeing sessions, support for startup and non profit organisations, as well as a safe community space to bring us together in what has been one of the most challenging times in recent history. It will also mean we can breathe a little life back into a vacant building, highlighting its heritage and making it a useful part of the community again.
Our new home.... The Mill, Church Street, Uttoxeter
The Ask
To do all of this, we will need a significant amount of funding to the tune of £120k, but if we achieve our target this will enable us to fit out the new premises and secure our survival for a minimum of three years. We will be approaching grant funders to help with the total (and will update any awards on this page) but we would also hope that businesses and those in our community will give what they can. If you can't afford to give, then please share on social media. Let's spread the word to help us create our vibrant eco hub in the heart of the community.
The Draft Layout
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made