For the 2025/2026 school year Galashiels Academy has timetabled all S1 students to take part in Project Based Learning (PBL) for the last two periods of the day each Wednesday. The year group year group has been split into four groups, rotating every eight weeks, each time covering a new theme with a challenge question to be answered. One of the groups was looking at the theme of Climate and Sustainability and exploring the question ‘How do we make school more sustainable?’
Class teacher Ms Cumming and Miss Bonnar asked the DYW School Coordinator, Susan Wilson, to help find a local business for the students to visit during the Climate and Sustainability theme rotation.
Each class was given the opportunity to visit Café Recharge where the owner, Emily Waterston, talked to the students about the café mission to reduce food waste by diverting it from landfill and making it into meals, ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious food regardless of their income.
The students built an understanding of how the café operates by collecting unsold products from wholesalers, supermarkets and food producers and offering customers meals on a ‘pay what you can’ basis. The café avoids single use plastics and chemical cleaning products as much as is possible. The students asked questions and brainstormed ideas, finding out that in the month of August 2025 the café rescued 1159.5kg of food, fed 626 people and saved 2898.8 Kg of Co2
Despite living and going to school in Galashiels, most of the students either hadn’t been in the café before or weren’t aware of what they did there. The class visits allowed them to see how greener and sustainable choices are possible in business. Taking the learning out of the classroom setting the students experienced a working business, giving them a new perspective on how to answer their Project Based Learning theme question.
The students were able to spread the word to friends and family who may need the support of the ‘pay what you can’ ethos, outdoor community pantries or opportunities for them to volunteer.
“As part of our Sustainability project with the S1s, Susan organised for the classes to visit Cafe Recharge, a community interest company in Galashiels. The pupils learnt about how the cafe reduces food waste by basing their menus on food donations and creating a “community fridge” for people to access free feed when they need.
They also discussed their “pay what you can” scheme to ensure the community can have a hot meal and drink. It was great for the pupils to visit the cafe itself and talk to the staff to really get a feel for what the cafe does to help people and be sustainable”.Ms Cumming, Class Teacher,
“I love that I can come and get food from the outside pantry, I will bring my mum so we can play games.”
Student, S1
