Continuing our focus on campaign groups and charities which provide support to those who need it all over Edinburgh we move to Granton, where Granton Goes Greener is very active.
Here is their story:
Who are you?
“Granton Goes Greener ” is an environmental project based in Granton Parish Church, North of Edinburgh.
The project was established in 2018 and initially funded by the Climate Challenge Fund.
The core of the project has always been the “swap shop” with time rebranded as “Share’n’Wear”, a space with second hand clothes, shoes and books donated by local residents and members of the congregation. It is a place, where anyone can get preloved clothes, shoes and books for free without any referrals or restrictions.
Since year one of the project we have run a weekly “rescued bread” scheme, where our volunteer had been collecting excess bread from a chain of bakeries. We have been sharing all the bread and pastries as well as delivering it to local groups and sheltered housing in North Edinburgh.
We run weekly sewing classes, focussing on maintaining and altering clothes as well as multiple educational workshops and events.
What do you hope to achieve?
We hope to spread environmental awareness in our local area, encouraging people to do more recycling/ up-cycling rather than constantly buying new things.
Based in North Edinburgh, an area of significant poverty, we try to encourage people who are in a more privileged position to share resources they have with others as well as help with tackling food and general poverty.
Why is this important?
It is important because with educational workshops and events, we can change people’s mindset and encourage the younger generation to be more mindful about climate change. Also encouraging maintaining what we have, mending and up-cycling rather than constantly buying could be helpful skills. especially when living on a low income.
What form does your campaign have?
We are active on social media with our frequent posts;
www.facebook.com/GrantonGoesGreenerm/GreenerGranton
We work in partnership with other projects to organise events ( for example Big Swap event in partnership with ELREC and The Welcoming) and workshops on a city-wide scale as well as organise our own events in the Granton area such as family rubbish picking, an Eco Fayre and family fun days.
How can people reading this article help?
If you would like to volunteer at the project, we invite you to visit our website;
We always look for new volunteers and even if you can only help once in every few months, you can still be our event volunteer.
Donations of good quality clothes and shoes are also welcome, but please, check our website to see what type of clothes do we currently accept or email Anna
anna@grantongoesgreener.org.uk
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
