Two years ago, Transition group Zero Carbon Guildford moved into a former New Look high street store and transformed it into a buzzing community climate hub.

Volunteers set up a library of things, community fridge, zero waste shop, baby clothes library, business network and a vertical farm growing salad crops.

They ran cinema, quiz and open mic nights, a food waste feast along the high street, and a climate conversation group.

They trained energy advisors and citizen scientists to test the local river’s water quality, and hosted dozens of groups from other communities who wanted to create a hub just like theirs.

In two years, they reckon their projects have saved a whooping 583 tonnes of CO2 emissions from their community.

It shows how people who are concerned can come together, and have a real, tangible impact and engage whole new audiences with some volunteer power and a meantime space. It’s why they won innovative UK climate project in the Climate Coalition’s annual awards this year.

Now their lease is up, and they want to take Zero Carbon Guildford to a new home and the next level. They’ve set up a crowdfunder, hoping to find out what they could achieve with great capacity and a more permanent space.

Find out more and their advice for anyone else setting up a similar community climate hub: https://transitiontogether.org.uk/building-community-action-through-climate-hubs/

#climatehub #communityhub #guildford #libraryofthings #zerocarbon #babylibrary #communityfridge #zerowastecafe #terracycle #citizenscience #climatecoalition #communityaction #transitiontown #crowdfunder

More goodies delivered to the #CommunityFridge today.. lots of large courgettes and a big bag of crab apples!

One of the lovely things about running a #CommunityFridge this time of year is the random donations of home grown veg. An old chap brought these in today.. he won the big squash by guessing the weight.. 21 lbs!! Decided him and his wife would never get through it so gave it to us ..but we can definitely do something with it 🍲😄

Random gift brought in to me in the office today for the #CommunityFridge 🥒😃

@deepmud good question but answer is no! We have a community allotment but also run a #CommunityFridge so give out and swap lots of plants, seeds and gardening equipment alongside the food. We're also doing a tea/coffee and cake fundraiser next weekend so will have some plants for sale. Loads of #teazels #nasturtiums #calendula self seeded on our allotment so will sell those too.

#CommunityFridge helping to reduce #FoodWaste in #MalvernLink this morning. #Malvern

RT @momsforsj@twitter.com

We were thrilled to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Hope Community Fridge! And thanks to generous donations, we were able to donate a small library that will be mounted to the side of the fridge so folks can grab food AND a book! ♥️🍎🍞📚#CommunityFridge #CommunityLibrary

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/momsforsj/status/1611839681754275841

There is something very therapeutic about having a jigsaw on the go in the office. This was finished off tonight by me and one of our volunteers. Was far too cold for us to be outside for our #CommunityFridge so left veg out and we did this instead 😃

Also have a few #apples from the #CommunityFridge which are a bit bruised but will last a few more days.. made apple bread and butter pudding recently with some cheap white bread 🍏 #FoodWaste - used this #recipe and added a bit of nutmeg but used milk instead of cream.. https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/recipe/apple-bread-and-butter-pudding

Running a #CommunityFridge means I often bring home squashed or over ripe random fruit and veg - todays #cooking efforts to use up #FoodWaste include #banana and #walnut cake and a large #cauliflower and #broccoli cheese.. #recipe for the cake from #BBCGoodFood https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/banana-walnut-loaf

@seamusblackley go for it.. I run a #CommunityFridge so often end up with random surplus slightly squishy fruit and veg..today's challenge is to do something with #apples #bananas and #broccoli..suspect will not be all in the same dish..

Now I've been here a while - doing another #introduction toot.. keep forgetting we can use lots of characters here! Currently running a community project in #YorkshireDales with a focus on #FoodWaste #CommunityFridge #Allotment #ReducingIsolation A big part of what we do is a twice weekly #PublicLivingRoom based on the idea from #Camerados. Worked for many years in analytical #chemistry #geochemistry research before retraining as a #homeopath and working a lot with #MentalHealth #Trauma .. sadly this has been really useful for doing community work. Other interests include #walking #gardening #permaculture #DeathCafe #cooking #crafting especially #patchwork #travel #festivals #reading and me and husband would love to have #goats but unlikely to happen! So will just have to manage with frequent searching of #GoatsOfMastodon hashtag. Since about 2015 been really influenced by the work of #OttoScharmer #ULab and the #ImpactHub model and especially the concept of #prototyping. Was recently described by a friend as 'a bit of a #lefty who gets shit done' and think that actually sums me up perfectly. Picture is of Ethel one of our lovely regular visitors at our #CommunityFridge

I feel like maybe I'm being too liberal with the label maker usage, here, but after 8 fridge thermometers have gone missing over the last month or two, I just want people to know that these thermometers should ideally stay in the fridges. 🤦🏼 I want to make sure our food temps are food safe. #Somerville #CommunityFridge #FoodSafety

@Hell_Kitty love this 👏 thx for posting! I’m currently working with local folks on a #CommunityFridge project here in #calgary #canada. Hoping to launch in the Beltline spring 2024 #mutualaid

@lynncunliffe such a great picture. I've had success doing this with #celery and #lettuce but never tried #cabbage. I run a #CommunityFridge in #YorkshireDales so looking for folk on here doing #FoodWaste type things .. we mostly get out of date veg, fruit, bread from supermarkets but also lots from veg growers when they have gluts of produce.. any suggestions for folk to follow on here would be greatly appreciated.. here's a colourful pic of our fridge last week 🍏🍋🍇

#FoodWaste We run a #CommunityFridge here and part of that is about encouraging people to donate surplus food from their cupboards, shops, gardens. Have ended up with hundreds of kilos of apples this year which have all been passed on to people who wanted them. These came from a local car park which used to be an orchard.

#BBCNI

#CommunityFridge: ‘Our fridge saves a tonne a month from landfill’

#communityaction
Food waste makes up an estimated 25% of non-recycling bins in
#NorthernIreland.But several community fridges throughout Northern Ireland are helping share su...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrI8PKI8Ihk