National Lottery funding for Community Hub Refills

REUSE Foundation has secured funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to launch a new pilot bringing refill and reuse directly into local communities.

The Community Hub Reuse and Refill Pilot will run across four established community hubs in Newham, East London, helping local households reduce single-use plastic while lowering the cost of everyday essentials.

REUSE Foundation is working with Newham Food Alliance, which supports 41 food banks and clubs across East London, along with bulk refill suppliers LESS& and Fill Refill, who are providing product and expertise to help the pilot get off the ground.

Why it matters

UK households are grappling with rising costs at the same time as growing awareness of plastic waste. By putting refill into places people already visit for support, REUSE Foundation hopes to show that reuse can be affordable, practical and genuinely community-led — not an added burden, but a welcome one.

"We started Bottles for Good to support refill stores seed reuse in their communities," said Roger Sharp. "This pilot takes that same spirit somewhere new — into the community hubs already doing brilliant work across Newham. If we can show that refill works here, in the places where it matters most, we can build something that scales across the country."

More here.