Hello and welcome to the Cone Exchange blog. This is the place we share your stories and pictures of just what can be created with rubbish.

Cone Exchange opening hours for the next few weeks

Hi Everyone
It’s that time again , and the Cone Exchange will be taking a break during the upcoming school half-term. To help us process the amazing number of recent donations, we will be closed for 2 weeks from Monday 29th May to Friday 9th June inclusive.
However, we will use our time wisely to also train the newest additions to our fantastic volunteering team. This means we have very exciting news….. 🙂
From Wednesday 14th June, we will open between 10am and 4pm each Wednesday, plus the usual Tuesdays & Thursdays, until our summer holidays.
Please do come and say hello to the new gang and have a lovely Bank Holiday and happy crafting in the meantime.
Best wishes
Chris, Sarah and Carolyn

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Changes to our Donations

We love your donations and could not operate without them. However, there are now certain items that sadly we are no longer able to accept.
We appreciate this is a change to how we have worked in the past and may feel disappointing however there are some items that we cannot pass onto other charities and we do not have the space to process safely.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@coneexchange.org if you have any questions or would like to check what you are donating.

YES PLEASE!                                                 

  • All craft materials                                                                  
  • Storage tubs / boxes                                 
  • Fabric incl. scraps                                     
  • Wool incl. scraps                                       
  • Art supplies                                                
  • Beads & buttons                                        
  • Paper/card & related craft materials           
  • Fabric & wallpaper sample books         

NO THANKS!

x Curtains/blinds 

x Electrical items

x Household goods

x Cookware

x Glassware

x Videos/CDs/tapes

x Printer cartridges     

Paintings, prints & mirrors

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Easter Holidays

Don’t forget that the Cone Exchange will be closed from 3rd -17th April for the Easter break. So make sure you top up your stash on Thursday 30th March when we are open from 10am until 8pm.
If you’re looking for a fun activity this weekend, we will be attending the Springtime Live event at the Yorkshire Showground on Saturday 1st April and tickets are still available.
We look forward to welcoming you back into the shop from Tuesday 18th April.
Enjoy your eggs!

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Help to finish a loved one’s craft project

Good Morning Crafty Creatives.

We have just become aware of a fantastic enterprise which matches unfinished projects from crafty friends and family who have left us or are no longer able to complete them, with all of you talented people who have the skills to finish the item. You can sign up as a volunteer knitter, crocheter, quilter or crafter or submit a project for finishing via the website.

LOOSE ENDS (looseendsproject.org)

This is a worldwide enterprise and incoming projects are matched against a bank of skilled finishers. What a wonderful way to celebrate the talents of a loved one and keep them close to your heart.

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Opening Hours Thursday 9th March 2023

Morning everyone

We hope you are all keeping safe and warm.

Please note that we will open as normal at 10am today (Thursday 9th March), however if the weather deteriorates we may take the decision to close earlier than normal. This is to ensure the safety of our customers, volunteers and staff and we hope it does not cause too much inconvenience.

Please refer to this blog and our Instagram page for the latest updates.

Happy crafting!

 

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Opening hours for the next 2 weeks

Hi everyone.
A quick update on the next couple of weeks at the Cone Exchange.
We will be open as normal between 10am and 4pm on Tuesday 7th February.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Cone Exchange will close at 2pm on Thursday 9th February. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

We will then take a quick half-term break and return at 10am on Tuesday 21st February.

Best wishes from Chris, Sarah and Carolyn

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Christmas at The Cone Exchange

The Cone Exchange team would like to wish our all of our friends and customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you so much for your continued support – you have made 2022 very special for us.

We are taking a break to re-charge our batteries and re-stock ready with some new creative ideas and crafty treasure for 2023. So we look forward to welcoming you back on Thursday 5th January 2023 when we will be open between 10am and 8pm.

You can continue to reach us by email at: hello@coneexchange.org and we hope to see you soon.

Best wishes from Chris, Sarah, Carolyn and the Cone Crew!

 

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Cone Exchange Opening Hours over the Festive Season

Goodness – we are on official countdown to Christmas now with less than 2 weeks to go until the big day!

The Cone Exchange is open as normal this week and will be closing for the Christmas holidays after Thursday 15th December.

We still have lots of Christmas goodies for you to stock up on, whether it’s decorations or crafty items, either for yourself or as gifts. So please do pop down to see us between:

10:00 and 16:00 on Tuesday 13th December

10:00 and 20:00 on Thursday 15th December

We will open again on Thursday 5th January and look forward to welcoming all of our customers into the New Year. We have many exciting plans for 2023 and we can’t wait to see you and share what we will be up to.

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Parking at The Cone Exchange

Parking outside of the Cone Exchange will be limited throughout the remainder of November due to essential electrical works. Where possible, we would be grateful if you could car-share to ensure as many customers as possible can safely make use of the facilities. You might also find it possible to visit during our quieter times of day; usually between 12 noon and 2pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and between 5pm and 8pm on a Thursday evening.

For the safety of all visitors and their vehicles, please do not park in front of the gates used to access the warehouses to either side of our building.

Don’t forget, you can also visit us at the Knitting & Stitching Show between 17th and 20th November in the Harrogate Convention Centre.

See you soon!

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Come and join us at the Knitting and Stitching Show this November

The Cone Exchange is delighted to confirm that we will be attending the Knitting and Stitching Show in the Harrogate Convention Centre this year between 17th and 20th November.

We have lots of wonderful fabrics and crafting items to tempt and inspire you and we can’t wait to see you there. Make sure you come and find us on Stand No. A200 in Hall A. Tickets are on sale now and can be booked through the Knitting and Stitching Show website.

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Half-Term Holiday

The Cone Exchange is having a quick holiday during the school half-term week commencing 24th October. We will return on Tuesday 1st November and look forward to seeing you then. 

Don’t forget our current opening hours:

Tuesday      10:00-16:00

Thursday   10:00-20:00

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Who We Work With… Resurrected Bites

At the Cone Exchange, we work with a number of different charities and groups in our local communities. We’ve been working in partnership with some of these charities for years, and some much more recently, thanks Covid-19. This ‘Who We Work With’ mini-series is to help you learn a little bit about who we help and what they do, even if that just means spreading the word a little bit further.

This week we’re focusing on Resurrected Bites, a food redistribution charity who work in the Harrogate and Leeds areas.

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When you go down to the woods today…

…you will meet a lovely bunch of volunteers from the Cone Exchange exploring their new woodland project! Keen to learn more about the new tree planting relationship with the Yorkshire Dales Millenium Trust and see firsthand the difference their trees will make to the environment, a group of hardy volunteers ventured out on an unseasonably cold day to visit our recently planted trees in Woodale Wood.

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Turning Over A New Leaf

We are thrilled to have launched a new partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Millenium Trust to plant new trees in the Yorkshire Dales through the sales of paper, card and other papercrafting materials in our craft recycling shop. The launch sees the planting of 300 new trees this year, with a further 400 planned over the next two years.

“As a business, we’re really excited to combine our local environmental and community work with our long-term passion for trees, by creating our own Cone Exchange Wood,” says Chris Powell, our Community Champion who runs the project. “We’re thrilled that the money raised will be used to create a project that our volunteers and customers can visit to see first-hand the impact these trees will have,”he continues.

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A Blue Peter Badge for the Cone Exchange

We were thrilled to be invited to appear on Blue Peter alongside a group of crafty children from Hookstone Chase Primary School. Our very own Chris Powell was interviewed by presenters Radzi and Lindsey and explained about the Cone Exchange and how we reuse items that are destined for landfill. Chris was thrilled to be presented with his very own Green Blue Peter badge which will take pride of place with his MBE! 

We were on CBBC on Thursday 21st June at 5.30pm and its available on BBC I-Player now if you want to check it out.

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A year at the Cone Exchange

The Cone Exchange has enjoyed another successful year. At the heart of the Cone Exchange is a commitment to give waste a new lease of life and to see ability, not disability, in people.

Over the course of the year we’ve recycled our own business waste along with that of 12 other businesses, raised over £15,000 for local good causes, and hosted 800 hours of work placements for adults with additional learning needs.

More information on the Cone Exchange’s impact during the year gone by can be found in our 2017 Annual Review.

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All in a good cause

Our main work experience partner at the Cone Exchange, Henshaws, were recently in receipt of a Good Cause Award from our family business. They had applied for a little help with purchasing some new garden furniture for the community allotment that they had just taken over the maintenance of and were thrilled to be able to purchase the items from Horticap, one of the social enterprises we have worked with closely for a number of years. It’s a fantastic feeling when our partners can all work together for the benefit of the community.

Lee Gray, Work Experience Co-Ordinator at Henshaws tells us:

Thanks to Bettys & Taylors we were able to have Horticap build us a composter and some raised garden beds for the allotment. The allotment is owned by MIND and managed by The Home Group. We were able to bring together 6 local charities and businesses that are working together to make the community better for everyone. Thank you Horticap, you guys are amazing.”

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Love is in the air, part four: Mother of the Bride

One of our most regular customers wanted her daughter to have something extra special to carry down the aisle that she could keep to pass on to future generations. Using a variety of materials and embellishments from her own stash topped up with some extras from the Cone Exchange she created this beautiful horseshoe with her daughter’s name and the wedding date on the back. A truly beautiful and unique wedding gift.

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