A great place to be for training and workshops (for which I had an opportunity to be there). Built upon a holistic sustainable theme with meeting/conference room, a restaurant and a gift shop. They boast about their products at gift shops are resources from sustainable methods and most are fair trade certified. Their restaurant is almost busy most of the time and with a trendy crowd, it also use to organises different events along with live band. RISC is also involved in educational research and have published different toolkits for teachers and eductors. They use to run different workshops in varied themes. They have a quiet big gift shop with insense to didgeridoo. From books to toys..all sustainably resourced. By the way the staff were not happy taking photos of their products. I don't know why. Anyways colourful place.

I have bought few nice things from here in the past.

really nice cool and relaxed cafe/bar and shop which i have at last found the time and effort to try and enjoy. risc has this airy African teak wood feeeling inside, you know spacious cool and relaxed. had a frothy macchiato with reassuringly wonky table and chair. next door the shop sells a wide range of ethical, free trade and organic food and non food items, some charming childrens toys and recycled greetings cards.the solidarity centre is virtuous, but nonjudgmental, a good place to enjoy a Budvar on a bright afternoon

It is a lovely store with a zero waste mentality. The coordinator and supervisors put all their effort into get products of high value and from the fair trade market. Also the granel facility is quite convenient.

Love it. Such a great experience - take your tubs and paper bags and fill them with goodness at great prices. Really friendly and helpful staff. Definitely gonna be a regular re-filler. Escape the plastic waste and have fun.

A great place to purchase a range of global cultural goods and books. I loved the dry goods area with a range of rice, pulses and nuts.

RISC Global refill shop provides a wide selection of basic food stuffs, nuts, berries, cereals, artisan bread, fruit and domestic supplies such as washing-up liquid.

Great place and well priced, unlike a lot of zero waste shops that seem to charge a premium. The staff are always super friendly and super helpful. I stop off here whenever I'm in the area and need dried food supplies.

Had the most horrible experience in this shop today. I was so happy when I came by it as I’m desperately looking for a thoughtful gift for a friend. I spent a lot of time looking at all the items to find something she will love. I took my phone out of my bag to make a list of all the items I found that would make a great gift. However, the manage came over to me was extremely rude asking what am I doing and stood and watched me. Then returned to her co worker to say I was putting something in my bag. I was absolutely mortified. I would never steal let alone for a business that’s core values are Fairtrade & sustainability. She carried on being rude asking if there was a problem even though she could see I was visibly upset. I left the shop without purchasing anything for my friend and now I do not want to return.

I had the strangest experience I’ve ever had at a refillable shop! I am not new to a refillable shop, but this one took me by surprise. I am quite local to the area and I’ve heard that they developed the refill section of the shop which is superb. I was really excited to refill and like I said I’m not a stranger to a refillable shop. so when I approached the refillable shop(which isn’t JUST a section of the RISC shop , there was no one there but usually what I do is weigh the empty container then refill it and then weigh it again. I was happy to see they had a shampoo that I haven’t tried before and one thing I love about a refillable shop is that usually you don’t have to commit to a whole bottle. So I filled just a little bit after weighing the empty container and then I was approached by someone who asked me what I was doing. I tried my best to explain that I weighed the container then I started refilling. They were adamant that they only Sell by full bottles only and that I could not feel just a little bit. She also explained that they don’t do it by weight of the container but just the liquid on its own. I don’t mind if they do it a different way but I felt like she didn’t approach me with kindness at all. On top of that a point of a refillable shop is not to make waste, so when I try to warn her that because I had a pump in my bottle you shouldn’t fill it all the way to the top she said no that’s okay, then refilled it to the top as it overflowed and spilled, and said that’s why we have a sink I was confused with the whole experience!

LOVE this place. Great atmosphere and a fab place just to chill with a drink. Tutus Ethiopian cuisine is amazing! The vegan dishes are plentiful, delicious and filling. RISC stands for a lot of things I hold close to heart and there’s no where better in Reading just to have a coffee or beer and chill. There’s live nights with music and comedy. Don’t forget the world shop next door either! Great selection of thought provoking, honest and radical books.

The refills shop was even better than I expected it to be. Great range of products, incredibly helpful people and efficient set-up. I bought two really nice jars, one big, one small, as I didn't have containers with me (though they would have supplied paper bags - I wanted an excuse to buy the jars) and filled them with risotto rice and dried sour cherries respectively. Can't wait to go back.

World Shop is definitely a hidden gem in Reading, I enjoyed the wide variety of products available. A particular highlight was the book section which contains works from all across the globe including cookbooks, fiction, history and children's books. As with all stores that import their products are a bit more expensive but since they are fair trade certified you can be assured that all players in the supply chain have been treated fairly.

Havent been for ages but such a good shop. It saves on recycling you can take your bottles containers along a d fill them with all sorts of things.

As being new in Reading, this place turned out a life saver for all my fair-trade and organic groceries. they certainly have a good collection of most antiquity items one can think of. It surely is a MARVEL under one roof !!!

If you want to do something about our environment - this is a great place to start. A refill lifestyle is a brilliant way forward and all your needs are met here for living a a waste free, plastic free, cruelty free, pesticide free lifestyle. Who wouldn't want that heh! Oh.......and it works out way cheaper 😊 It is sad the cafe is closed by the refill food is still going strong so go and have a look- it's great

I’m so grateful to have RISC in Reading. It’s the only refill shop in the area and, on topo of that, their book section is just amazing! Every time I go there for food shopping, o ended up with a book in my basket. An amazing place that you should definitely check out if you haven’t done it already