The Bridge Community Hub is thrilled to introduce the Eco Elves 2024, an exciting project aimed at fostering environmental awareness and sustainability within our community with an emphasis of social and economic welfare matched with environmental responsibilities.
This year, the Bridge Community Hub is asking all schools across the Bridge Hub to participate a some level of had to help make an impactful and raise awareness while supporting families.
What is the Eco Elves Project?
The Eco Elves Project is a collaborative effort to inspire young minds to take action and to education families about choices this Christmas.
How they can make help the environment by reducing waste and landfill by reusing and stop repeatedly buying new.
Stressing the importance that a cost isn’t just of the price ticket and that value of a product is different from the cost.
The project is to create opportunity to reinforce the importance of financial viability and loose the “keeping up with the Jones” “Buying for buying sake” and that instil that “NEW TO YOU can be good as NEW” building on citizenship and moral values of sharing and that passing on is beneficial to all.
Aims of the Project:
- Promote the Value of Preloved Items/Gifts: Encourage students to see the worth in second-hand items.
- Highlight the Importance of Recycling: Teach the significance of reducing unnecessary waste.
- Encourage Sharing Beyond Friends/Family: Foster a spirit of generosity within the wider community.
- Build Community Responsibility: Instill a sense of duty towards community well-being.
- Cultivate Community Pride and Belonging: Strengthen the bonds within the community.
- Celebrate the Tradition of Gifting for Kindness: Embrace cultural traditions that emphasize kindness through gifting.
- Nurture family relationships and engagement: Providing Digital downtime and 1-1 family craft activities to encourage conversations and emotional development.
- Support families of the financial burden: Reducing increased debt of buying new and normalising the purchase of pre loved, sharing information where parents can purchase items from.
- Supply Gifts: provide gifts that parents can select and take free of charge and add their name on and give to their children on Christmas morning.
How to Get Involved:
The Bridge Community Hub realises everyone has a lot on especially at this busy time of year, however this project will not work on my own and the Bridge Community Hub does need your help.
Request of the community:
- Share information and spread the word, verbally and digitally,
- Donate resources see below
- Donate time – (The Bridge Community Hub really needs help on the pack and wrap day! – 5th December 10am – 6pm and would be grateful of any time you can spare please email and let me know so that I can plan)
- Volunteers to run craft activities on the 10th December at the Gift away event – again please email the Bridge Community Hub ASAP as they will also have a uniform exchange presence on the day to promote sustainable uniform and taking food donations for Skelmanthorpe Food Pantry and promoting its offer to families.
Extras support that would be appreciated–
- Read the savvy shoppers hints and tips.
- Talk to children about Christmas lists and encourage them to thing about importance of pre loved, cost to parents and if expensive gifts are necessary.
- What’s important to them at Christmas, engage in conversations, make mind maps and display/share with parents.
- Help by being an Elf – We need a team to clean, check and wrap on the 5th December, can be from 1 hour to the full day but the Bridge Community Hub really need helping hands.
- Support on the Gift- away event – half days- setting up , crafting, supporting families and clearing away. AM- 10-3 PM 3-7pm
Share Success:
- Document your input to the projects and share them on social media.
- Use the hashtag #TheBridgeEcoElves2024 to connect with other schools.
- Any feedback that you might have, from yourselves, pupils and families- drop me and email with quotes.
Important Dates:
- School Assemblies: Week commencing 25th November 2024.
- Toy Collection Pickups: 3rd/4th December 2024. Please remind families that toys need to be clean, working, and complete.
- Wrap and Pack: 5th December, running 3 sessions for people to volunteer and help out at 10-2pm, 2- 4pm and 4-6pm
- Craft and Gift-away event 10th December (Free tickets now available for both sessions on Eventbrite) 2 family sessions 12.30-2.30pm and 4-6pm both at Shepley Methodist Church.
We Need Your Help:
- Toys- toys need to be clean, working, and complete.
- Wrapping Paper
- Ribbons
- Bows
- Baskets
- Gift Bags
- Gift Boxes
- Paper tubes
- Assorted buttons
- Thyme,
- Fir cones
- Cloves
- Cinnamon sticks
- Dried oranges
Contact:
To register your school or for more information, please
- Email: alison.forde@kirklees.gov.uk
For more information including contact details please visit the Bridge Community Hub’s directory listing –