NEWS, INFORMATION AND EVENTS FROM STROUD DISTRICT COUNCIL 

Are you ready for Spring HAF?

The Holiday Activity and Food programme (HAF) returns this spring with lots of fun activities and delicious food available for children and families from Saturday 28 March 2026.

HAF activities are available for children and young people who receive benefits-related free school meals. This Spring we are also able to extend this offer to any child who may benefit from attending the programme, through our grant funded Holiday Activities Programme (HAP).

Activities are now live! Visit the Family Hub website and booking system here. Use our handy checklist below to make sure that:

All children have an individual profile added to your account.

Emergency contact details are filled in for each child taking part in activities.

Any Special Education Needs and Disability information is included for each child taking part in activities.

Your details reflect any recent changes (e.g. new address, phone contact details)

Keeping child profiles up to date helps ensure smooth bookings and the best support for your child. A complete and up to date profile means:

Faster bookings

Better support for your children

Fewer delays or issues during HAF sessions

No changes to Easter waste & recycling collections ♻️

There will be no change to your waste and recycling collections over the Easter holiday, so please put everything out as normal on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Don’t forget to recycle packaging from Easter treats, including aluminium foil, cardboard, plastic and cardboard.

Very large pieces of cardboard should be cut or torn to the approximate size of your recycling box.

Did you know you can check your bin day on our website? Simply put your postcode in the `My House’ section on the home page – it will tell you when your waste and recycling dates are as well as other useful information about services in your area.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Garden waste service expands

Every household in the Stroud district can now use the council’s garden waste collection service, thanks to a fleet expansion that provides full district-wide coverage, including remote and rural areas that were previously unreachable.

The service already helps 18,000 households recycle their garden waste, but some properties haven’t been able to join until now because the larger collection vehicles were unable to reach narrow roads.

To change that, the council has introduced a smaller vehicle, along with a new kerbside compostable sack collection system designed specifically for locations with very limited access. Instead of the standard brown garden waste wheelie bins used elsewhere, these properties will use compostable sacks collected by a pick‑up style vehicle, ensuring all homes across the district can now benefit from a convenient garden waste service.

How the new compostable sack service works:

Residents living in properties that cannot be serviced by a vehicle fitted with a bin-lift will be offered the new compostable sack scheme.

• Subscriptions are now open, with collections starting from 30 March.
• Residents pay an annual subscription fee, which will be reduced for 2026 due to the later first collection.
• The subscription includes fortnightly collections until the end of November and the supply of compostable sacks.
• To help avoid unnecessary travel to remote locations, all collections must be pre-booked.
• Subscribers will receive 50 compostable sacks per year – 25 at the start of their subscription, with a further 25 available on request once the first batch has been used.
• Residents may book up to two sacks per collection.
• Full instructions will be given on how to use the sacks which should be filled to a marked line and the tops folded over to prevent spillage.

Standard bin service continues.

For the majority of homes, the standard brown garden waste bin service continues as usual. Subscriptions for 2026 are now open, costing £58.50 per year, with a one‑off £20 fee for new customers who need a bin.

Recycle more at home: we’re now collecting toothpaste tubes and plastic plant pots

Stroud District Council has expanded the range of items collected from people’s homes, helping residents recycle even more as part of the national Simpler Recycling initiative.

Residents can now recycle toothpaste tubes and non-black plastic plant pots in their green recycling bins or bags. These items can be added to the existing range of plastics already collected at the kerbside.

Simpler Recycling is a national programme designed to make recycling easier and more consistent across England. Its aim is to ensure all households can recycle the same core set of materials, reducing confusion, increasing recycling rates and supporting the transition to a more circular economy.

Stroud District Council already meets most of these new standards. Residents benefit from weekly food waste, household battery and vape collections and fortnightly recycling collections covering tins and cans, glass, plastic bottles, tubs and trays, paper and card. A fortnightly paid garden waste service also runs from February to November each year.

If the average person uses around six toothpaste tubes a year, the district’s residents could stop more than 750,000 tubes being thrown away annually.

To stay fully aligned with national requirements, the council is also preparing to introduce kerbside collections of plastic film and wrapping by 31 March 2027. Further details will be shared closer to the time.

Cllr Martin Pearcy, Stroud District Council’s chair of Environment Committee said:

“We’re pleased to be expanding the range of materials residents can recycle from home. These changes make it even easier for people to do the right thing and help us all move towards a cleaner, greener future.”

Plastics that can be recycled at home:

Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays including yogurt pots, margarine tubs, fruit and vegetable punnets, clear food trays, toothpaste tubes and non-black plastic plant pots.

We can’t accept:

Flexible plastic including cling film, carrier bags, biscuit and crisp packets, pouches, polystyrene or bubble wrap, blister packs such as paracetamol packets, black plant pots and polystyrene. Many supermarkets will accept these.

Tips to make the most of your recycling service:

• Rinse food containers – it keeps your bin and the recycling fresh
• Fold or cut cardboard to the size of your recycling box – the smaller it is, the more we can fit in the truck
• Put bins out by 6am on collection day.

If you’re unsure whether an item can be recycled in your home collection, check the Waste Wizard on our website, which will explain how it can be repaired, reused, recycled or disposed of: Waste wizard

For more information on recycling services in the district, visit www.stroud.gov.uk/recycling

Thank you for recycling!