Gateshead-based social enterprise Green Heart Collective wins “Best Emerging Second Hand Enterprise 2023” award.
A small business in Gateshead which offers a more ethical and sustainable way to shop has been named “Best Emerging Second Hand Enterprise 2023 – North East” as part of the Northern Enterprise Awards 2023, hosted by SME News.
Green Heart Collective, which opened a brand new second hand shop on Gateshead High Street in August 2023, has been working with local organisations and individuals since December 2019 to save perfectly good clothes, yoga equipment, books and other items from landfill.
Helen Redfern, co-founder of Green Heart Collective said: “Since our move to Gateshead High Street in August 2023, we’ve received fantastic feedback from our customers who have experienced with us that buying second hand can be an immensely satisfying, rewarding and enjoyable experience. Each week, new people are discovering our shop for themselves and spreading the word about Green Heart.
“The aim of reducing waste to landfill by encouraging people to buy nothing new and choose preloved instead is at the heart of our mission as a social enterprise. Green Heart allows us to be part of a solution to make Gateshead High Street a destination for shopping small with local and independent businesses committed to sustainable retail that is better for people and planet. That’s the dream and we’re excited to see where this journey takes us.”
Andy Redfern, also a co-founder of Green Heart Collective added: “We were shortlisted for the Social Enterprise UK Tech for Good awards back in November and just missed out on winning. Great to have won this award that acknowledges the core mission of social enterprise - selling preloved and second hand items to give them a new life and save them from being sent to landfill.”
SME Awards Coordinator Kaven Cooper said: “The Northern Enterprise Awards are a shining beacon of light for businesses and a chance for us to celebrate the strengths of the North. I know our followers will be delighted to learn more about our winners and how they achieved their greatness. Congratulations to our awardees, and I hope 2024 is every bit as successful – if not more!”
