Published: March 2026

Sustainable Bucklebury held a meeting on 24 February 2026 at the Memorial Hall, Upper Bucklebury from 7:45pm.

Repair Cafe

• Sue gave a very comprehensive update on the last Repair Café that was held on Saturday 31 January from 10-12 at All Saints Church, Upper Bucklebury
• The event was delivered by a strong team of volunteers who generously gave up their time and skills across all areas.  Sue passed on her enormous gratitude for the team without whom the event would not happen
• More than 50 people attended
• 31 items presented for repair, 24 successfully repaired, with additional advice provided for several others
• All Saints Church hall proved a successful and well received location
• The Visitor Café Waiting Area improved flow and reduced congestion
• Very generous donations were received (donations contribute towards hall hire, insurance, advertising costs, supplies like plugs and fuses and the slow procurement of tools – all of which will sustain future Repair Café events
• Various suggestions were made to improve future Repair Café events.
• The event was widely publicised in Bucklebury and Bradfield with Facebook posts and leaflets drops but it was agreed that future events could be publicised to other villages within the Bucklebury Parish and close by such as Woolhampton, Stanford Dingley and Yattendon. 
• It would be enormously helpful if someone was able to assist Sue with this task.

It was agreed to continue the book swap and perhaps include a seed swap for the next event.  NP to contact Bucklebury Horticultural Society to see if they would be willing to donate the seeds left over from their seed swap at the end of March.

Date of next Repair Café – Saturday 25 April

Community Orchard

£1,000 of funding from Veolia Environmental Services has been received for the project. 

The aim of the project is to:

Provide a sustainable local food resource

To provide a tranquil and peaceful environment

To encourage and provide a wildlife habitat and pollinators

To encourage a communal spirit to look after and care for the trees

To provide an education tool for the community

The 17 tree orchard was largely planted on 21 February 2026 with the remaining few trees planted on 25 February with the help of children from Bucklebury Primary School.

The orchard consists of a mixture of apple, pear, cherry and plum that will flower and fruit over a long period of time.  Volunteers will be needed to help with watering, particularly in the first few years when the trees are most vulnerable.  It has been suggested that we could put a 1,000 litre tank on the field for use which will be filled by pumping water from a fixed tank delivered by tractor.

A WhatsApp group has been set up for anyone who would like to be involved in the ongoing maintenance of the orchard.

It was suggested that we should wassail the trees – an ancient tradition to ward off evil spirits and encourage healthy cropping

It was also suggested that there is also some signage at the orchard.

Mayday beacon lighting event in Chapel  Row

We have been asked if we would like to have a stand with some sustainable activity

Suggestions included: making seed bombs, flowerpots out of newspaper and seed planting, a trail quiz around the field, information about what can and cannot go into recycling bins, advertising for the next repair café

Meeting dates for 2026

Meeting dates were set for the remainder of the year:

Tuesday 21 April

Tuesday 23 June

Tuesday 8 September

Tuesday 17 November

All 7pm in The Oak  Room, Upper Bucklebury

Repair Café dates for the rest of the year to be confirmed by Sue as soon as possible

Signage 

Graham Loader and Nina Peddie to look into this and securing additional funding

AOB

• Possibly encourage people to do informal litter picking around the parish in addition to the twice yearly common clearing.  
• The next Common Clearing will be on 28 March
• Encourage people to join our Facebook page and follow on Instagram
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