Candles have been lit for Love Haslemere, Hate Waste’s fifth birthday this year. Launched in 2019, the charity aims to educate the community and reduce Haslemere’s waste. It is the brainchild of founder Victoria Page.

“I am a sustainability consultant and I was interested in creating a charity to see what happened when you give people the means to live sustainably.

“If Haslemere can do it, who knows who else might follow its lead.”

LHHW is Victoria’s voluntary side hustle alongside a full-time job and two kids. She said: “If not me, then who?”

LHHW has become a movement for change in Haslemere. It advocates green initiatives, having launched the Haslemere Cup, the Library of Things, the Great Green Get Together, and the Repair Café.

Around 20 repairers come together for the Repair Café on the first Saturday of every month from 10 am to 1 pm at The Swan to mend what’s broken. It has repaired more than 625 items so far, diverting 2,200kg from landfill.

The next initiative LHHW will be launching is the Community Fridge.

Victoria said: “We know demand for the Haslemere Food Bank has never been higher, and we know that many businesses in and around town are sending unsold food to landfill. We hope we can meet a community need and reduce waste at the same time.”

The fridge will be hosted by Green and Blue Studios on the Unicorn Trading Estate off Weydown Road and, like all the initiatives, will be open to anyone and everyone.