At the Loundsley Green Fun Day in June people were asked what their top tip was to try to avoid food waste and this is what they said:

• Cook less
• Plan your meals
• Use the freezer as much as possible
• Freeze Bananas in their skins – instant Banana Ice Cream!
• Mash all vegetables and meat left over from Sunday Lunch then fry in butter. Serve with brown sauce
• Make soup out of the stalks of Broccoli and Cauliflower
• Keep Cling Wrap in the fridge as it makes it much easier to find the edge
• Use a shopping list and do not buy food that you do not need; that way you will not waste it
• Store fruit in the fridge except for Bananas and Pineapples
• Grate a big block of cheese then freeze it.
• Store half a pepper in the fridge with the stalk and seeds still in
• Store potatoes out of plastic bags, ideally in a cool dark dry place
• Freeze meat before it reaches its Use By date if you know you will not use it up in time
• Put old carrots or soft celery into a glass of water in the fridge to revive them

What can you do today to create less Food Waste?

Did you know?

• The top three foods that Britons throw away are Bread, Potatoes, and Milk
• 1.4 million Bananas are thrown away each day
• 1.5 million Sausages are thrown away each day

Would you make a meal for 6 then throw it in the bin?  Well the average household throws away the equivalent of six meals a week!  This costs the average family almost £60 per month!

Our second Burns’ Night was a huge successes – A fun night had by all!

In addition to our successful Monday afternoon Young at Heart sessions, we have recently been trialling an additional social afternoon on Thursdays as an extra event to our weekly calendar.  This has been sucessful and following feedback from attendees will become known as the Thursday Chit Chat Club and will now run at the newer and earlier time of 2:30pm-4:30pm.  All welcome – We hope to see you for a cuppa and a chat!  Just £1.

On Saturday 20th September, volunteers from the local area gathered together at the Loundsley Green Community Centre for a litter pick, a follow-up to our first ever community tidy up which took place earlier this year in May. Similar to our previous litter pick in the spring, we unfortunately weren’t blessed with the best weather as it was another wet morning; nonetheless this didn’t deter the small group of enthusiastic local residents who wanted to give up a bit of their time to make the area a tidier place to live. Following a quick safety brief and getting their hands on a litter grabbing device which was loaned to us by Chesterfield Borough Council, our volunteers keenly braved the damp weather to collect what dropped and windswept litter could be found.

The areas covered by our mini-army of green-vested helpers were outside the shopping parade on Cuttholme Way, along Pennine Way which is the main road through the housing estate, and throughout Loundsley Green Park. There was a significant concentration of discarded litter around the seating area of the Skate Park where there is unfortunately no rubbish bin located, however this was swiftly bagged up by the team. As the weather cleared up a considerable about of litter was collected from the banks of the Holme Brook River, especially along the steeper bank which borders the shared cycle and footpath through the park. We’re glad that we were able to collect so much from this particular location at this time of year before the winds pick up in later in the autumn which risks the litter being blown into the river. One of our crew did come with his wellington boots and kindly offered to venture into the shallower parts of the river to pick what litter had washed downstream.

Having collected all manner of unusual litter including a bicycle frame, three odd socks, a car foot-mat and a cast iron water pump, the total haul came to 14 filled refuse sacks of litter in just two hours. Appreciation goes out to the volunteers, and we’ll be liaising with the borough council to investigate the feasibility of getting a litter bin installed on the park where it seems suitable. If anybody would like to be involved in a future litter pick or would like advice on how to set one up yourself, please get in touch with us!

Out latest newsletter is out now, which has details of all of our latest news and upcoming events, including a new Book Club, the return of our Litter Pick, Get Online Week and Cookery Courses. Plus our Table Top Sale is back too. To read the full newsletter or to sign up for e-mail updates, click here.

Missed our AGM? Read the report!

Please feel free to read our annual report which includes our history, activities going on at the centre plus the brief financial report. Congratulations on the re-election of our trustees plus our newest member Pete!

Click this link to view the report

We’ve achieved so much over the past three years thanks to the effort of our volunteers – we’d like to continue that success by involving as many people as possible who share our vision.

A  quick update on the latest going’s on at Loundsley Green Community Centre.

Our new Sunday Lunch Club continues to grow, and will be running on the 1st and 8th of June.  Come along from noon to get a freshly cooked 3-course meal.

Starting on Saturday 7th June, in association with Chesterfield Borough Council we’re running over 14s Netball Sessions.  An opportunity to have fun and keep fit, your first session is free (subsequent sessions only £2.50) and takes place every Saturday 10am-11:30am. Click here for more details.

Finally, our annual Fun Day will be on Saturday 14th June from 11am.  A fantastic day of entertainment, music, games, competitions for all the family, Transition Chesterfield will be running a Repair Café – bring along your broken items and they crew will show you how to fix them! Click here for more details.

We have recently held our second Sunday Lunch Club which is proving to be successful, providing low cost home cooked food (approximately £2.50 per head for a 3-course meal). We have more dates scheduled over selected Sundays over the next few weeks – we’re always looking for volunteers to help with the food preparation.

Another of our kitchen-based initiatives, out cooking skills course is going strong, with another six local residents learning how to cook for themselves. Our culinary volunteers are also working with local youngsters from Brockwell Junior School year 5’s and the Brownies group to provide free baking sessions. Back due to popular demand, we are again running a Food Hygiene Course on Saturday 31st May, which is an opportunity to both learn how to prepare and cook safely, as well as gain an industry standard qualification – only £1 for the one-day course!

We are also holding our first ever Community Litter Pick on Saturday 24th May at 9:30am. Come and meet at the community centre for a free cup of tea/coffee before we start – equipment will be provide but please bring gloves and appropriate outdoor footwear. We aim to collect as much litter in the surrounding green spaces between 10am-noon, recycle what we can, and take pride in our local area. The more volunteers that come along, the greater the area we can cover!

The Loundsley Green Fun Day will take place on Saturday 14th June 11am-3pm which we are currently planning; there’ll be a variety of indoor entertainment and information stalls plus lots of outdoor activities. In association with Transition Chesterfield, there will be a Repair Café – bring along your broken electricals, clothes, etc. and we’ll who you how to fix and mend! Then on Sunday 13th July our Sports Day is set to take place. We are looking for volunteers to help us run both of these events – please get in touch if you can help.

We have recently installed a number of soil planters around the front and side of the community centre to brighten up the area – would you like to adopt one? Feel free to plant something, or water the beds if you live nearby.

We are also looking to run a commemoration project to mark the 50th anniversary of the Loundsley Green Estate and 100th anniversary of the First World War. If you’re interested in local history and would like to take a lead on this interesting scheme, please let us know.

Our Young at Heart weekly meetings for the over 60’s has a varied summer programme, including a 1970’s event and music quiz on 12th May and Circle Dancing on 19th May.  Meetings are between 1:30-3:30pm on Monday’s except the bank holiday – Entry £1 inc tea/coffee.

Finally, there are some new regular activities set to start at the centre: Danceworks Children’s Dance School (ages 3-15) which starts on Tuesdays from May 20th between 4-6pm, and on Saturday mornings there’ll be Netball Training Sessions in association with Chesterfield Village Games (start date and time TBC – please check back on our website).

Thanks to a Derbyshire County Council donation we are able to undertake some important renovations in our community centre; the main hall floor will be fully reconditioned for the benefit of all who use the centre, and a new corridor can be built connecting our meeting room facility to the main entrance. On Friday 7th Feb at 9:30am councillors from Derbyshire County Council presented us with the all-important cheque – thank you!