The Big Green Market turns five and celebrates over £62,000 raised for Burntisland
A community event which started as a way of giving new life to pre-loved goods is celebrating its fifth birthday this July.
The Big Green Market (BGM) has been running in Burntisland since 2021 and during that time the event has raised over £62,000 for local community groups and charities.
The concept is simple – a monthly market where donated, pre-loved items are available to others locally to buy rather than the items ending up in landfill.
Organised by a team of volunteers, every single penny raised from sales goes straight back into the Burntisland community, helping local groups and organisations, big and small.
A total of £62,859 has been raised over the last five years and shared among 78 local groups.
The market runs on the first Friday and Saturday of the month (excluding January) in the Parish Church halls in the town’s East Leven Street and as well as helping the environment by recycling and reusing people’s unwanted items it’s also helping save shoppers money too as there are many bargains to be found.
Since it started the event has clocked up a lot of other numbers too.
There have been 21,954 shoppers pass through the doors and a team of 96 brilliant volunteers helping to keep things going.
Around £2 million worth of items have been saved from local landfill and 79,860kg of carbon have been saved.
A spokesperson for the Big Green Market team said: “What started as five friends on a walk along Burntisland beach in the strange in between days of Covid has grown into a massive community effort.
"None of these numbers happen without the shoppers, donators, volunteers and groups who make it all possible.”
As time has gone on, the market has expanded into more than just that. A repair cafe has been established with 11 of them having taking place to date. Volunteers have been working together to offer people’s broken or ‘seen better days’ items some TLC where they can. They have also hosted 33 mending and crafting workshops encouraging people to have a try at fixing things themselves rather than always just throwing them away.
There’s more good news too as there will be more Repair Cafes in future.
The spokesperson explained: “Thanks to funding from The Corra Foundation and ongoing support from the Community Lottery Fund, the Repair Cafe will now run every month alongside the market.
"From sewing machines to bikes, socks to GHD straighteners, bring along your broken bits and the team will do their very best to fix them.”
The Repair Cafe is open from 10am to noon on Saturday, July 4.
Money raised from July's market won’t just be going to one local organisation. The Big Green Market team are raising money for flash grants – a wee boost of cash for a local group that needs help reaching a specific goal whether that’s materials, tools or a one off project.
The spokesperson added: “To say thank you for five wonderful years, there are birthday bargains waiting across both days.
"First treat out of the bag – five items of clothing for £5. Five years, five quid, five items. Perfect timing for those last minute holiday essentials.
"There’s lots more to come so keep an eye on BGM’s socials this week for all the Big Green Birthday bargains.”
Anyone interested in hearing more about the market and repair cafe can joing the BGM mailing list at http://eepurl.com/iUgCXQ
The Big Green Market’s birthday market runs on Friday, July 3 from noon to 3pm and on Saturday, July 4 from 10am to 1pm.
Find out more on the Big Green Market’s website or Facebook page.