Northamptonshire village named as UK’s first ‘Bin Twin Community’

Villagers from Chelveston-cum-Caldecott near Rushden are making a big impact across the world, after being declared the UK’s first ‘Bin Twin Community’.

The accolade is the first awarded by the charity Bin Twinning, that supports social enterprises overseas to set up bin collections and recycling projects.

The award was presented at a community event on Saturday (October 22). The celebration included a litter-pick, guided nature walks, upcycled crafts sale, and a chat between Chelveston residents and the charity’s project manager in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lorraine Kingsley CEO of Bin Twinning said: “We’re so pleased to recognise Chelveston-cum-Caldecott’s efforts to live more sustainably and tackle waste, both here and abroad. Every one of us can make a difference, and we look forward to working together to make even more of an impact as they inspire other towns and villages to follow in their footsteps.”

The charity initiative, Bin Twinning, invites people to ‘twin their bin’ for £45 and help fund a community project overseas that is tackling poverty and environmental damage by introducing formal waste management.

Two billion people worldwide do not have their rubbish collected and are forced to dump or burn it in the open.

The grassroots effort in Chelveston-cum-Caldecott began with one family’s visit to the 2021 UN Climate Conference in Glasgow.

Chad Chadwick Chelveston resident and church youth worker said: “After the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, our family were searching for a way of encouraging our community to care for the local environment, but also find ways of positively engaging with global issues too.

“When a friend told us about Bin Twinning, we realised it was just the kind of opportunity we had been looking for.”

Chad and his wife Stephanie, a secondary school teacher, encouraged their eight-year-old twins to do some research on the Bin Twinning website.

The Chadwicks chose to twin their family bin with a plastic recycling plant in Masaka, Uganda.

Daughter Emily gave a speech to the parish council, who voted unanimously to twin eight public litter bins. The local church joined the cause. Her brother Jack wrote to his headteacher and asked if the school could twin their bins. Now a total of 17 villagers twin their bins, too.

For more information on Bin Twinning, visit bintwinning.org