Crafty beggars

What does recycling mean to you? 
It could be rinsing out your bottles and jars ready for your kerbside collection. Or maybe it’s dropping off at your local recycle point on the way to the supermarket. It could even be bagging up your old clothes for the Salvation Army. To Jude Stoll of Free for All, recycling means all of this, and a whole lot more.

Free for All is an award winning, environmentally focused, community group with a unique approach to recycling – they run a crafty scrap store and Community Re-Paint scheme. YourCumbria caught up with Jude to find out what it’s all about. 

“What we do is really simple. We collect unwanted items that have some creative value from local businesses and the general public, then for a small fee we offer these to our members for use in their latest piece of artwork or craft project. I guess we are literally turning rubbish into resources.” 

Based in Wigton, Free for All collects all sorts of things from local businesses from corrugated tubing and shiny coloured films to fabric   off-cuts and paint. Its members, who include professional artists, Cumbrian schools, kid’s clubs and even local families, pay a small fee to join, then a donation at each visit. For this they have unlimited access to an Aladdin’s Cave of arts and crafts supplies.

Free for All recently made a successful bid to Cumbria County Council’s Community Waste Prevention Fund to develop part of its building into a recycled arts workshop. Jude explains the new project:

“We wanted to help educate the wider community about waste and environmental issues through creativity – and we felt the best way to do this was through ‘hands on’ activity.” “The workshops are run by one of our volunteers who is a professional artist specialising in recycled materials. We have run workshops in paper making, junk sculpture and recycled glass casting to name but a few. They are really popular with all age groups though children really get a kick out of them. To date we have run workshops for lots of local schools and community organisations such as the scouts.” 

You can contact Free for All by calling 016973 45656 or emailing mail@freeforallwigton.com 

Community Waste Prevention Fund

Cumbria County Council’s Community Waste Prevention Fund supports local communities prevent waste by turning rubbish into resources. If you are a community group, charity or social enterprise with a great waste prevention idea, we want to hear from you. Contact Louise Woods on 01228 227644 or email   louise.woods@cumbriacc.gov.uk