Grove Community Housing Association is a registered charity based on York Road, in the heart of the community we serve. We look after 215 properties, and run annual events and workshops that allow our tenants and those in the local community to come together, have fun, and create community ties.
In terms of promoting reuse and repair activities to our tenants, in August 2026, we were delighted to host our first Repair Cafe with support from NIRN. This came off the back of our recent Tenant Satisfaction Survey, where 30% of respondents expressed an interest in a small repairs service in the area. It was a great success with 25 items being repairs, including jewellery, clothing and bikes, preventing them from ending up in landfill and preventing approximately 811kg of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. We have committed to hosting a dedicated Repair Cafe at least once a year, and hope to offer repair services at our quarterly tenant events as well. Also, through a community partnership with WOMENS’TEC, funded Home Maintenance courses are being offered to our tenants for a 10 week period starting in September 2026, with one of the aims being that if tenants are skilled-up to fix aspects of their homes, it will prevent waste and additional materials being used, as well as build confidence in repair activities.
We also promote reuse and repair activities throughout our office working environment. Our reception area, or “Lottie’s Lounge”, provides books and games that our residents can donate and borrow at any time. The Grove office has electric vehicle charging points, and our Helping Hand service operates a new zero-emissions electric van, reducing our carbon footprint. During the summer school holidays, we work in partnership with a local church and display a school uniform donation box in our reception area, and we’re committed to reducing our ecological impact through everyday actions by ensuring office materials are recycled where possible.
