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The Honesty Jar - Community ReUse - SwapShop & Workshops

♻️   Resources for Resilience   ♻️

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*Keep an eye on the facebook page for updates*
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Stay Safe - if there are people waiting to enter, please exit through the garden door and follow the path to the carpark. Always be mindful of others and allow personal space for those outside your bubble, thank you.
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We need local helpers for the SwapShop, please get in touch - volunteering can be for an occasional hour, or regular days, the rota is totally flexible.
​More info on the volunteering page.

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Huge thanks to 'Take no Wrap. Yeovil’s Eco Store' for donating wonderful barrels - they are making sorting so much easier :)
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Contributions to The Honesty Jar

Donate
PayPal option...

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'The Honesty Jar' itself is a pot to receive voluntary contributions.

The SwapShop is a
community recycling station where you can take things and exchange them for either other things or cash, once our running costs are paid, we use any profits to run family friendly community live music, craft events and training sessions for home carers and youth groups on topics such as autistic spectrum disorder, dementia awareness, mental health and conflict management.

Items are also gifted to those in need through organisations such as Help & Care, homelessness, rehabilitation, isolation, hardship and refugee support groups. The Honesty Jar project started in 2019 by local non-profit group BearCat Collective, who have been running these SwapShops on a pop-up basis as part of many other community activities at various village halls, fetes and shows around North Dorset & South Somerset for the last ten years.

​We are based at Grassroots Garden Centre on the main road in Henstridge on the Dorset / Somerset border. Opening hours are 10am till 4pm every day of the week except Wednesdays. Due to the current situation and non-physical-cash guidelines, we have just installed a contactless card payment, and also have online donation options for you to support the project.

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We are a Grassroots Garden Centre
Stalbridge Road (A357), Henstridge
BA8 0SA


You can also visit our facebook page
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Community workshop & picnic garden in progress.... watch this space :)


Please enjoy reading some news and have a peek at more pictures below.
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We would love to hear about your favourite swaps
​and up-cycling projects from SwapShop finds.

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So lovely to find this note in our ‘help yourself’ basket outside the gates. We’ve had many visitors over the last few weeks - taking fabric, buttons, binding & elastic, we would love to see some of the creations you’ve made #UpCycleWarriors #LovetheNHS 😊💚♻️
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We are delighted provide Friends of Guys Marsh with fabric & supplies for their sewing project. Find items for sale in the polytunnel at 
Grassroots Garden & Aquatics Centre in Henstridge
In these unusual times of lockdown, some people’s regular means of support are no longer available. Thanks to ‘Help & Care’ we have been made aware of a local resident who has had a delivery from the food bank, but has no kitchen utensils.

​So happy to be able to help with items donated to the SwapShop >
😊♻️💚
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You can use the community tab on our facebook page to invite your friends & help to spread the word about this community resource
... smashing it! ... now heading to 3,000 likes !!!
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We have been thrilled with the response to our SmartWorks project, sending super-smart clothes, shoes, bags and accessories to to the Smart Works charity, a very worthwhile award-winning organisation that helps unemployed women succeed at job interviews. We collected together some of the quality business clothes so generously donated to the Honesty Jar. They still need more low-heeled shoes, stylish shoulder bags and business clothes, especially sizes 16+. If you would like to know more about sponsoring a box as an individual or organisation, please get in touch.
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We'd love to hear about ways that the Honesty Jar has made a difference to you, local families, projects and the community. Help make sure that we can continue and provide a space to share our joint resources and support each other. Send your story to us via messenger, or email, or anonymously via our website contact form.

messenger- m.me/thehonestyjar
email- thehonestyjar@bearcatcollective.co.uk
web contact form- www.bearcatcollective.co.uk/contact-us.html 
​

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What is ‘Magic Hat’?
​...nothing is priced, visitors give voluntary contribution - what they can afford and what they would like to give... if there is enough in the ‘hat’ to keep the project sustainable, the doors stay open... community people-power in action 😊
💚♻️
 
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Lots of home-schooling and educational resources

Since opening in November 2019
we have processed tonnes of contributions,
(6 tonnes in January 2022 alone)
keeping stuff out of local landfill, helping local families on a budget
& helping towards cutting pollution through reduced need for manufacturing.


Find us at Grassroots Garden Centre,
Stalbridge Road  (A357)  Henstridge  BA8 0SA


Regular Opening Hours are 10am-4pm Every Day Except Wednesdays

Like the The Honesty Jar facebook page to keep up to date & 
find out about what treasure is coming into the swap:-
books, clothes, costume jewellery, hand tools, plants, produce,
plus craft workshops and special events

A new home for the SwapShop
somewhere we can do what we do in marquees in a field...
all year round in the warm & dry, Yay!


A space to relax, meet people, make stuff, fix things, play music, learn skills, share coffee, find treasure...

We are super excited and need help, support, guidance, ideas and advice from all of you.

Profits from the SwapShop fund health and social care training for local family carers, community music events,
family craft workshop materials, transport, structures and insurances.


♻️ Keep up to date by liking the Facebook page - facebook.com/thehonestyjar ♻️

Volunteers : There is a Google calendar to coordinate who's available at what times at the bottom of this page below the pictures

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Lovely words from one of our volunteers and musicians Kimberley Smith 😊💚♻️

​"Since being a part of BearCat, I have often heard the same questions I had once asked; "how does this actually work? There seems to be no profit to be made, or anything, I find it hard to see how this works..."
Well, the trick is: recycling, reusing, reducing, regifting, re-paring, and recovering. What comes in, and goes out, is the circulatory beauty of The Honesty Jar.
It's power to the people, and it's being a part of those who have something to offer with zest and compassion, and thus breeds a new gift to be recycled into something else, be it a nice word, action, or an object.
You never know what will happen at the end of the day, when a collective of people can put their minds together, only magic can be produced as part of such an activity.
Please spread the word!"
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THJ2 ... The Honesty Jar at Grassroots in Henstridge

Moving to THJ2​ - March 2020

The Honesty Jar's First Home (2019-2020)

Decorating THJ1 - October 2019


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Mission
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BearCat Collective is a not-for-profit group of skilled professionals and trained volunteers bringing accessible, hands-on family education and entertainment to local community venues across Wessex

Live Music - Health & Social Care Training - Craft Workshops
Family Activities - SwapShop - ToySwap

Contributions to The Honesty Jar

Donate
PayPal option...

Our Projects are Supported by :-
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BearCat working in partnership with:-
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