Club news
Written by: Joe
Lewes FC have won the Environmental Sustainability Award 2024 at the Sussex Sport & Physical Activity Awards – a recognition of our community working hard to make the Dripping Pan and our surroundings more sustainable.
The award recognised Lewes FC’s continual pursuit of sustainable activities, with our reusable cups scheme and stadium gardens central to the win.
The cups scheme has helped us dramatically reduce plastic waste. We estimate supporters have saved more than 12,000 single-use plastic cups from being thrown away already this season.
Meanwhile, our community gardens continue to flourish. Brad’s Pit has a remarkable army of volunteers who cut, preen, dig, nurture and harvest vegetables throughout the year. Our garden, nestled between the Philcox Stand and the main stand, comes to life in the spring and was the perfect backdrop for our men’s player photoshoots.
Of course, that’s not all we do at Lewes FC. We’re one of the few clubs in the country with solar panels on our stadium roof, we are constantly repurposing materials, we’re supportive of car chargers and bike racks in Mountfield Road car park, and our ‘pay what you like’ model for old merchandise means nothing goes to waste.
“Being at the awards was a real eye-opener to the amazing work other people within the Sussex community are doing,” says director Joe Short.
“We’re not alone in trying to be more sustainable at the Dripping Pan. The other nominees – Shoreham Football Club and 5 Ways Netball Club – deserve huge credit for the work they’re doing. I was really impressed with what they’re doing. If more institutions can think more about their local sustainability efforts then we can all contribute to wider societal change.”
Lewes FC would like to thank our wonderful community garden group, which works tirelessly to cultivate Brad’s Pit and the flower garden. We would also like to extend our thanks to Lewes Town Council, Green United and Harvey’s Brewery for getting our reusable cups scheme up and running.
Thanks, too, to the Lewes FC Supporters Club for funding a washer in the Rook Inn that enables us to wash, dry and store our cups more efficiently.
Meanwhile, it seems our ‘radishal’ ways are getting even more attention locally!
A new book, published by Lewes Town Council, focuses on cultivation throughout the town of Lewes, past and present. With over fifty contributors, ‘Grown in Lewes’, nurtured by journalists Sarah Bayliss and Ruth Thomson, is a real community effort.
The beautifully illustrated paperback includes a section our very own Brad’s Pit.
You can buy a copy for £16.50 at various fairs around town, and at Lewes FC Men vs Dulwich Hamlet on 10 December, and Lewes FC Men vs Chichester on Saturday 14 December.