Full Circle, Chester’s not-for-profit refill scheme, celebrates its first birthday with a new open hub at Cheshire Home Store in Chester Market, plus rotan for gifts and home goods made to last.
Helen Tandy, Founder Eco Communities
A year ago, Full Circle was just an idea: bring refill back to Chester, run it as a not-for-profit, and deliver to people’s doors. Then it became a small unmanned hub at Hoole Community Centre. This autumn we celebrated our first birthday by opening our fourth hub, and our first one you can walk in and browse.
Honestly, I never imagined that a year on we’d have three more hubs, a brand-new open hub in Chester Market, and a garage full of Fill products. Thank you to everyone who has ordered, refilled, swapped a bottle or told a friend.
Four hubs across Cheshire
You can now collect your refills from:
- Hoole Community Centre
- Neston Community Youth Centre
- Helsby Library
- Cheshire Home Store, Chester Market (new)
It works like this. Order your household and personal care refills online (laundry liquid, washing-up liquid, hand wash, shampoo, body wash and more), then pick them up at your nearest hub. You can refill your own bottle or swap your empty Fill bottle for a full one. If you live in Chester, we still deliver.
Our first open hub: Cheshire Home Store
The Cheshire Home Store hub is a first for us. Instead of a locked cabinet, it sits inside the shop’s new Eco Corner, so you can see the range for yourself while you’re in the market. Online customers can still order as normal and just show the staff their order email when they collect. You can also buy on the day through the shops till.
A huge thank you to Connor and Will for making it happen. If you’re in the market, say hello to Will at Digby & Champ too.
Year one in numbers
Emily, one of our directors, keeps track of our impact, and the first-year figures are something we’re really proud of:
- 362 single-use plastic bottles saved
- Around 40kg of CO2 saved, the same as driving a petrol car 100 miles or charging a smartphone more than 3,600 times
- 52 regular users at our Hoole hub alone
“Small refills really do add up to a big impact.” (Emily Reid, Eco Communities)
On Thursday 29 October we got customers, volunteers and local supporters together, with cake, to mark the year. Thank you to everyone who came along.
Two ways to shop: Full Circle and rotan
As Full Circle has grown, we’ve made a change. Full Circle now focuses on what it does best: refills. It stays not-for-profit, and every purchase helps fund Eco Communities’ work across Cheshire, including refill and reuse, community litter picks, blister pack recycling and reusable party kit hire.
For everything else, there’s rotan. It’s our new online shop of thoughtful gifts and everyday home goods, made to be used, loved and kept. You’ll find things from smaller makers, B Corps and brands that use recycled materials. Think sustainable kitchen and bathroom essentials, beauty products, make-and-sew kits for children, and plastic-free party bags. All of it is chosen to last, not to be thrown away after a season.
rotan delivers across the UK, so you don’t need to live near a hub. You can also find some of the range in the Eco Corner at Cheshire Home Store.
With Christmas coming, we’ve been putting together rotan gift boxes at different price points, including some for the men in your life, who can be the hardest to buy for. If you’d rather your gift money went to small makers than to the big online giants, take a look.
Start your refill journey with us
- Refills and hub collection: Full Circle
- Gifts and home goods: rotan
Here’s to year two. We can’t wait to see where it takes us.
Photos: Ciara Doone Rush Photography
