29Lancashire Evening Post, Tuesday, February 22, 2011www.lep.co.uk

Beautiful new city shop is an oasis of Green

Swap your old clothes for some ‘swish’ gearshoppers are being offered the chance to clear out their wardrobes and bag a few bargains.

A swish in the park clothes swap event will take place at the Worden Arts Centre, in Worden park, Leyland, on saturday March 5, from 1pm.

everyone who wishes to be involved in the swapping session, must bring at least one clean, good quality item to swap for something else.

emma Leaf-Grimshaw of south ribble Transition Towns, said: “Why spend £50 on a new top or pair of shoes when you can come to a swishing event and get it for

free? “We regularly recycle our waste, so why

not recycle our clothes too? “Not only are you helping save the plan-

et but you get new clothes for free and can have a laugh while meeting new friends.”

participants are invited to swap wom-en’s and men’s clothes, shoe, accessories and toys.

Approximately 90,000 tonnes of shoes and clothes are thrown away each year of which three quarters goes to landfill.

For more information please contact emma on 07905 377 133 or email south-ribbletransitiontowns@googlemail.com.

cheers: customers and volunteers in the Beautiful Planet Green centre, on Friargate Brow, Preston

New eco centre aims to be environmental hubby josie hilljosie.hill@lep.co.uk

presToN’s green credentials have just gone up a notch as the city can now boast it’s very own dedicated Green Centre.

Named Beautiful planet and run en-tirely by volunteers, the centre has just opened its doors after several years of hard planning and several months of ren-ovation work to get the premises ready for the public.

Volunteer and founding member Brett Lund said: “We had the idea about three years ago but it has taken a while to come to fruition.”

“The shop has a Fair Trade stand and the foods we sell are about 95% organic and it is an internet cafe as well.”

Beautiful planet which is located at 69 Friargate in preston, can accommodate about 12 people and is available to the community to rent as a meeting place.

Brett said: “It is a breath of fresh air on Friargate. some people have already come into the shop and said they really like it.”

student volunteer Adam Lindsey said: “I think it is important to make closer links with the university and the commu-nity and I think the centre is a good way to do that.

“I am hoping to get more student groups to use the shop as a meeting space. And I think it is a great idea for preston to have this place as a resource.”

The green centre’s aims are to bring

together people and groups concerned with the environ-ment, to be an in-formation resource for everything en-vironmental and to provide a community space.

There are currently about 15 volunteers who run the shop between them from Monday to saturday, but Brett and friends are always on the lookout for more.

Chairman of the preston and south ribble Fair Trade group Anne Garsed told the Lancashire evening post: “It is great that there is an-other outlet that is providing Fair Trade refreshments and selling some Fair Trade products. And as a point of contact for people interested in environmental is-sues the centre can only be a good thing for the city.”

The Green Centre has been sponsored by UnLtd, the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All and UCLan’s Northern Lights Business Incubation unit.

To find out more visit the Green Cen-tre blog http://prestongreencentre.blogs-pot.com or pop into the shop on 69 Fri-argate.

Teen in intensive care after serious car smashA TeeNAGer is in hospital with seri-ous injuries after he was thrown from his car and had to be freed from underneath the wreckage.

The incident happened at just after midnight yesterday on the A65 at Cowan Bridge, Carnforth.

A blue peugeot 205, driven by a 19-year-old man from Kirby Lonsdale, was travelling from Ingleton towards Kirby Lonsdale when the accident happened.

his car left the road on a bend and col-lided with a dry stone wall before coming to rest on a dirt track.

The driver was thrown from the car

and had to be freed from underneath the wreckage by Cumbria Fire and rescue.

he was taken to the royal Lancaster Infirmary where he is being treated for a number of serious fractures to his head and body.

he remains in a serious condition in intensive care.

sgt Mick Young, from Lancashire police’s road policing unit, said: “A full investigation is underway but I would ap-peal to anyone that witnessed the incident to contact police on 08451 25 35 45.”

The road was for five and a half hours to allow for an investigation.

Front: the Beautiful Planet Green centre, on Friargate Brow, Preston