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Open Day March 17th 2024

The Betts Hall was buzzing with conversation on Sunday as we opened the somewhat creaking and cobwebbed doors at the Claremont Centre, Bath St, in the centre of Rugby.

In total, around 75 people came along to find out what we've been up to, and share their thoughts on where the Eco Hub could go.

We kicked off with a talk from steering group member Alex Becker, who shared the story so far and conveyed some of the wide range of possibilities the Hub could offer to individuals, families, communities and businesses. As it stands, it looks like we will have a fully-funded Hub for a 12-month pilot project, with further funding available from Rugby Borough Council if we can demonstrate growth and successful engagement within the town. We will also be forming a new charity to operate under, and will be looking for a part-time employee to oversee operations.

If all goes well we could officially start working as soon as May!

The talk concluded with a call to action; our Hub will need strong support and a team of volunteers, as well as lots of great ideas. It was heart-warming to see so much talking, all the ideas written on our timeline, and the number of names on our volunteer sheet.

Besides Transition Town and Repair Cafe, we saw representatives from many of the groups working in and around Rugby: councillors, Rotary Club, Green Christian, Friends of the Earth, Men in Sheds, and more. We hope that the Hub will be useful to all these groups as we look for ways to work together and reach more people.

The key now will be to keep up the momentum we have created, we will be sharing more opportunities to get involved very soon.

Eco Hub steering group members Kate, Alex, Becky and James outside the Claremont Centre

March 2024

We are going firm on March 17th at the Claremont Centre, 2-4pm!

Come along and find out how an Eco Hub could bring direct benefits to you and your community.

If you have a small business, or you make and craft things, we want to offer you space to operate from, or sell your products.

If you want to be part of the team we will need general volunteers as well as some more specific roles. We also hope to be advertising a paid role for a Hub Manager.

We want our Hub to be available to other groups too, and we hope to be able to offer our support to community projects across Rugby.

We'll also be really pleased to hear any other ideas for how to use the space, which will include a hall, a kitchen, a garden and a cosy sitting room/chillout space!

Please share our press release with your networks!

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We were all really sad to hear that Rugby Unwrapped will be closing their doors for the last time this month, not only because Rugby will be losing its trailblazing plastic-free shop, or that Clair & Sharon have called it a day after putting in so much heart and soul, but also because we had hoped to be able to offer them an alternative home at the Eco Hub.

Disappointingly, the timescales just didn't match up and it was not to be.

February 2024

Things are looking very positive with regards to securing our funding from RBC, and we're hopeful that we can get a contract sorted with the Claremont Centre!

We want to get things moving, so we're pleased to announce an Open Day on Sunday 17th of March!

The exact date and time will be confirmed soon, however the idea will be to get as many people, groups, businesses and potential partners in as we can, and to present where we are. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and look around the space, and really get a feel for the possibilities.

January 2024

A quiet few weeks while we wait for RBC to consider our business plan, but in the meantime we're thinking about other things.

Several funding opportunities are available currently and we have applied to Transition Seed Funding and the RBC Shared Prosperity Fund, specifically with the idea of starting a 'Library of Things'.

A Library of Things would be a wonderful fit for the Eco Hub as it helps communities in a very hands-on way by being a source of helpful items that often might be too costly for most people to consider buyinng outright. By owning them as a community instead, a small number of items can be shared amongst many!

December 2023

Following the August meeting a steering group has been formed and we have worked diligently to bring the ideas generated in the first two meetings to life. This has resulted in a business plan that has been passed to Rugby Borough Council for review, as a large part of our funding will (hopefully!) come from them.

We're excited to say that things are looking promising at this stage, and we're in advanced discussion with the Claremont Centre at the corner of Clifton Rd and Bath St. While this isn't a high street location as we had discussed previously, it has a lot of extra benefits including plenty of space inside, a garden and parking spaces, while being still very central.

We're looking forward to being able to invite potential partners in very soon.

We also settled on a name, which is very simply: Rugby Eco Hub!

August 2023

Following a successful kick-off meeting (see below), our next step is to clarify our vision and how to take our project forward - a plan!

We will be meeting in the Town Hall on August 16th, 7pm. This will be the initial opportunity to set the vision and direction that this project will take, so come along and have your say!

All are welcome to join, but please confirm your attendance by completing this form or emailing us (due to security arrangements at the Town Hall, only people listed as attending will be allowed entry).

Up for discussion will be:

a name for our project
creation of a steering group
agreement on what we want the space to be used for
a shortlist of possible locations
which organisations we will look to partner with, and how to manage those relationships
outline a plan of action!

Kick Off Meeting 25th July 2023

On July 25th, we hosted an online public meeting to share ideas and visions for the hub.

We heard about other towns across the UK that have successfully created similar hubs, and there was a Q&A session at the end.

Click the video to watch the full meeting or read the summary notes here

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