Hub Projects Blog Posts

  Polmontopoly  Monopoly evolved from earlier anti-capitalist roots, notably The Landlord's Game (1903) by Elizabeth Magie, known to her friends as Lizzie, the problems of the new century were so vast, the income inequalities so massive and the monopolists so mighty that it seemed impossible that an unknown woman working as a stenographer stood a chance at easing society’s ills with something as trivial as a board game. But she believed in the Georgist paradigm, which seeks solutions to social and ecological problems based on principles of land rights and public finance that attempt to integrate economic efficiency with social justice,  Night after night, after her work at her office was done, Lizzie sat in her home, drawing and redrawing, thinking and rethinking. It was the early 1900s, and she wanted her board game to reflect her progressive political views – that was the whole point of it. The game became popular with left-wing intellectuals and on college campuses, an...

  Souplin in Scots is the shoot of a tree Our hub is the mother tree, Souplin are going to be our nutritional food branch         We served stewp at our wonderful just transition Burns Night. This was a broth so thick it was like stew, treemendous introduction to what you can offer as accessible pathways into permaculture skills, nutrient-dense local food and an opportunity to explore the role community-scale food farming without slaughter animals could play in the ecological, social and cultural regeneration of our communities In our first year we have spent considerable time, establishing plans for a nearly 3-acre site, we aim for this to be a holistically-designed, living landscape of food and shelter, we have partnered with organisations including Social Farms and Gardens, keep Scotland beautiful, its your neighbourhood, FEL, Scotland and other wellbeing hubs to explore the role social farms and orchards could play in tackling inequality, food poverty, ...

  Repair Workshop at the Hub The hub's retrofitting project is a great example of how we need to reimagine the way our communities functions. We must focus on better management of our resources and embrace the circular economy instead of the linear approach that promotes designed obsolescence, which has become such a significant part of modern life. This transition will require a lot of education; we all need to learn from the mistakes of our past. For over a year, we have been expressing our intention to include various types of repair workshops as part of our recycle, repurpose, reimagine, upcycle, and repair groups. The main goal is to keep items out of landfills and reimagine how communities can move away from the overconsumption of resources. Become active citizens, not mere consumers Recently, we were delighted when a repair business owner approached us about making the hub a drop-off point for items that no longer work. We agreed enthusiastically and explored how much furthe...

  Our community loves apples, we are inclusive, so that means all sorts   The apple and foraging active travel outing for wildlings FEL has generously provided our active travel team with a cargo bike once again, this time to assist in our pre-Apple Day apple collection efforts. Since this lease is longer than the one we had for Monty's big day out, there's potential for planning other local cycling adventures focused on wild harvests if anyone is interested. We think it would be fun to bike around the Upper and Lower Braes communities to not only gather apples but also look for other items our community might know about. For example, Kenny and Claire have already collected some sweet chestnuts. Any help with collecting apples or other food harvesting ideas would be greatly appreciated.  We have only taken the cargo bike out once to gather apples. It was a quick but bountiful visit to three local trees, allowing us to fill three baskets. The team has learned w...

  Seed library  We  borrowed Grangemouth library`s seed library for Apple Day   What is the Seed Library? You can use (or “borrow”) seeds from the seed libraries for free! No prior gardening skills needed! We only ask that you take what you will definitely use, then we would like you its not a demand, but if you donate (or “return”) seeds at the end of the growing season. Others will benefit Seed donations keep the library stocked for the next season. If you plan to help keep the lending library stocked, pick a variety or two of your plants and let them mature all the way to seed production. A seed library is a simple way of preserving and sharing a diverse array of seeds. It spreads the love of gardening, strengthens access to food resources in the community, keeps rare plants circulating, therefore protecting our food source diversity. Our own planned seed library will become part of the global movement of food security  Our sustainability manager has gathered...

  Craft room upgrade and team textiles The craft room is incredibly well-used, and the groups that utilize it have storage cupboards filled with equipment. The only exception is the large cupboard at the back, from which we removed many children's toys. One of our groups, Hobby Craft, has a card-making section that has become an excellent example of the circular economy. The cards this group creates are displayed for sale, and the money generated goes towards funding the group's use of the space. When this initiative was launched, it was a remarkable success, surprising everyone involved. We've greatly enjoyed this local circular economy social enterprise. Another crafter in the same group loves to knit. She has created quirky, fun miniature figures with funny faces, some serving as keyring holders, others as toys or decorations. She is on her way to raising £100 for another charity she has committed to support. The amazing Stella Sewing Group meets on Tuesday afternoons an...