Record Four Tonnes Swapped In Oxfordshire

ALMOST 2,000 people attended 17 Swap Shops across Oxfordshire on Saturday (10/03), including in Thame, as part of a County Wide event.
A record of well over four tonnes of ?junk? was taken to new homes in the second, County-Wide Swap Shop coordinated by the Community Action Group (CAG) project, Oxfordshire.
The Swap Shops were run by the volunteer-led CAGs that work within Oxfordshire communities to save resources and reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill sites.

Hannah Moser, Oxfordshire County Council?s CAG project coordinator said:”The events were a resounding success; we were really pleased that all the hard work of the groups paid off and many people came and found a bargain, gave unwanted items to good homes and further reduced the amount of waste being dumped in Oxfordshire?s landfills.
“Because they are free and local, Swap Shops benefit the whole community from people on low incomes and those after a bargain to those who want to help reduce waste of resources by giving their unused belongings to someone else. Swap Shops are also a really good way of getting the message out there that unwanted items can be usefully re-used by someone else and give value to the resources we so readily throw away.”

As well as Christchurch, Thame, Swap Shops were held in:
? Abingdon (Long Furlong Community Centre)
? Barracks Lane (off Cowley Rd, Oxford)
? Blackbird Leys (Church of the Holy Family)
? Bullingdon Community Centre (Headington)
? Buscot Village Hall
? St Margaret’s Institute (Polstead Rd, North Oxford)
? Waterways Development,(Jericho)
? Waterside Development, (off Woodstock Road, Oxford)
? Charlbury (Memorial Hall, Browns Lane, Charlbury)
? Faringdon (around the Foley, Orchard Hill and around the leisure centre and community college)
? Didcot Ladygrove Community Centre
? Sunnymead (around the Harpes Rd area, Summertown)
? Wallingford (Regal Centre)
? Sutton Courteney
? Thame (Christ Church, Upper High St, opposite the car park)
? Wheatley (The Merry Bells, 89 High St)
? Lower Wolvercote

Four further Swap Shops are being held as part of the County Wide event on:
? Friday 16th March, Carterton Primary School;
? Saturday 17th March, Abingdon (South), South Abingdon Children?s Centre
? Saturday 17th March, Witney;
? Saturday 23rd March, West Oxford Waste Watchers, West Oxford Community Centre, Botley Rd, Oxford.

For full details of Swap Shop times and locations and for information on all the CAGs in Oxfordshire, check-out our website at: www.cagoxfordshire.org.uk

Photo: From an earlier Thame Swap Shop, back in February.