Made possible with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Waste Not Want Not demonstrates how skills and knowledge that were once commonplace can help communities now to address the challenges they face.

It did this through activity-based events that brought people together, developed understanding of the ways in which our heritage can help save money, boost resilience, and showed how the use of heritage skills can also benefit both climate and nature.

OUTPUTS ACHIEVED

Expected outputs were all exceeded. More workshops were provided, more fairs/showcases were held, more people were engaged and more skills areas were covered than originally anticipated.

Held 7 showcase events/seasonal fairs, attracting 1500 attendees
Employed one full-time Project Officer

Delivered 63 workshops covering:
Foraging
Making and repairing clothes/textiles
Spinning and weaving
Woodwork/furniture repair
Storytelling
Growing, cooking, and preserving food
Pottery, Solar Power electrics, Blacksmithing
Composting, Animal Rescue, Natural Dyeing and Mosaics, General/electrical repairs
Collected 100 stories including case studies

Purchased and procured products and services that were in keeping with the environmental focus of the project and raised awareness of community heritage skills and their value in addressing climate change and protecting nature

By the end of the project seven seasonal Waste Not Want Fairs had been held, attracting nearly 1500 people overall.

The first Summer Fair was held on 24 August 2023 at CaVCA’s The Street community building and featured the project team welcoming visitors and explaining the aims of the project, preserve making demonstrations, sewing activities, woodworking and painting activities, a crafting table for children, guides on composting and wormery making, cabbage planting, spinning and weaving tasters, blacksmithing demonstrations, vintage clothing, a foraging table where people could sample foraged food and drink, and a board where people posted their memories of Waste Not Want Not skills from the past. Around 400 people attended.

The Autumn Fair was held on 25 November 2023 at the Hungate Centre in Pickering and featured the Waste Not Want Not Project Officer welcoming visitors and explaining the aims of the project, hands on, have-a-go activities involving spinning and weaving, apple pressing, tabletop Christmas tree making (woodwork), mini wormery making, and denim up-cycling, as well as showcases of vintage fashion, foraging, food sharing and waste reduction. Around 200 people attended.

The Winter/Christmas Fair, which took the form of a post-Christmas swapping and sharing event, was held at Scarborough Market Hall on 6 January 2024 and 8 January 2024. Over 400 items were saved from landfill and over 200 swaps were made as people rediscovered the financial benefits of sharing with their neighbours as well as seeing the environmental benefits.
Around 100 people attended.

The Spring Fair was held on 20 April 2024 at the Hungate Centre and featured the Waste Not Want Not Project Officer welcoming visitors and explaining the aims of the project, activities demonstrating foraging, growing food, furniture repair and up-cycling, making your own photovoltaic light bulb, sewing, composting and apple pressing.
Around 100 people attended.

The second Summer Fair was held on 12 June 2024 at CaVCA’s building The Street, Scarborough during the national Great Big Green Week and featured the Waste Not Want Not Project Manager welcoming visitors and explaining the aims of the project, blacksmithing, preserve making, gardening, furniture up-cycling, sewing, spinning, weaving and mini wormery making, making our own games, hay-box cooking and jam jar light making. Around 250 people attended.

The second Spring Fair was held on 16th April 2025 at CaVCA’s The Street community building.
It included demonstrations, bird box making, preserves, rug weaving, composting and wormories, solar light making, a sewing table, woodworking and painting activities, food demonstrations, a crafting table for children, food planting, spinning and weaving tasters, vintage clothing, and more. Around 250 people attended.

THE END OF PROJECT CELEBRATION
was held on 5 July 2025 at CaVCA’s The Street community building.
It brought together many of the Waste Not Want Not workshop providers, workshop participants and the general public. There were many conversations about the project and what might come next, as well as a photographic exhibition, videos and tasters of some of the community heritage skills activities that had featured in the project. It was a genuinely uplifting event, with an optimism that new projects and initiatives would grow out of the Waste Not Want Not project.
Around 200 people attended.