From Crowdfunder to Community Movement: Our Ambitions for 2026 

A simple idea with a big impact

Cup Club Bude began with one simple question: what if our town could move away from disposable cups for hot drinks and choose reuse instead?

In a busy coastal community like Bude, thousands of takeaway hot drinks are served every week. Tea, coffee, herbal drinks and hot chocolates are enjoyed on the go, but the cups they come in are designed to be used for minutes and can last for decades once discarded. Too often, they end up as litter on streets, in hedgerows and on our beaches.

How it all started

With match funding from the Cornwall Climate and Nature Fund via a community crowdfunder, The Circular Mindset CIC launched Cup Club Bude in October 2025. By December, seven local cafés had joined the scheme, showing just how ready our community is for change.

A major milestone: National Lottery funding

In December 2025, we reached another huge milestone when The Circular Mindset CIC was awarded funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. This support has allowed Cup Club Bude to grow into a 12-month pilot and start building something that could last.

The National Lottery funding is helping us to:

• Invest in reusable cups and lids
• Provide café signage and clear communications
• Support staff training and community engagement
• Track impact, returns and behaviour change
• Dedicate time to working directly with local businesses

Growing at the right pace

With a brief pause onboarding cafés over the busy festive period, we are now in active discussions with five more cafés, with more interest coming through. Our focus for 2026 is to scale ahead of the tourist season, so staff are trained, systems are embedded, and visitors can take part as easily as residents.

Looking to the future with Circular&Co

We are thrilled to be working closely with Circular&Co. While the scheme currently runs on an honesty return basis, our long-term ambition is to explore how a town-wide digital system could support and strengthen reuse at scale.

More than a cup scheme

Cup Club Bude is about more than cups. It’s about proving that small coastal towns can lead the way in practical climate action, and that community-led solutions really do work.

Over the coming months, we’ll be sharing updates, learnings and impact from the scheme, as well as opportunities for more cafés and community groups to get involved.

Our aim is to make Cup Club Bude work well here in Bude, and to show that practical, community-led reuse schemes can be realistic and effective for other towns too. If you’re a café interested in joining Cup Club Bude, or a resident keen to see a scheme like this in your community elsewhere, we’d love to hear from you.