MEMBERS NEWS

Furniture Matters

Furniture Matters in Lancaster has been awarded £284,217 funding by the youth volunteering charity 'v' to assist in involving young people positively in their communities.

The project will be getting over 460 young people aged 16-25 involved in volunteering activities including; full time placements such as rebuilding cycles or building their own PC's, supporting young people to set up their own group and helping them to organise activities and events. Using the themes of recycling, sustainable transport and volunteering this project contributes to tackling climate change and local environmental improvements as well as portraying young people in a positive light. The volunteering opportunities will be available from April 2008

Furniture Matters is one of 152 projects across the country who will be funded by v as part of v involved, a new national youth volunteering programme backed by £75 million funding, which aims to inspire half a million more young people to volunteer in England.

Furniture Matters Chief Executive Alison Page says: "We are very excited to be part of the v involved programme. The funding will enable us to offer volunteers a range of opportunities where they can learn and share skills in a practical setting."

v 's Chief Executive Terry Ryall says: "v is delighted to be able to fund this innovative and youth-led project, which will enable young people to get positively involved in the Lancaster district.  

"Young people are at the heart of this new programme which aims to put them at the centre of our communities. Instead of seeing them as a problem to be fixed, we are giving them the chance to become a positive force for change."

Contact: Furniture Matters (01524 426622)

http://www.wearev.com/

Stevenage Furniture Recycling Scheme

Stevenage Furniture Recycling Scheme (SCRS) which works to support those on low income or in difficult circumstances by collecting and redistributing good quality used furniture, household items and electrical goods, are extending their established services by piloting a workshop. The workshop, Re-furbish, Re-use, Renew, brings used furniture back to life, diverting additional items from landfill whilst also increasing self-confidence and skills in disadvantaged learners.

Due to the assistance of staff and volunteers, SCRS each month supports over 300 Stevenage residents, encourages over 100 donors to recycle/re-use and saves almost 5 tonnes of unwanted items from landfill.

Contact: Faye Lloyd (01438 362900)

www.stevenagefrs.org.uk

Tree of Life Withanshaw

Tree of life Withenshaw are already carrying out a host of re-use and recycling activities associated with a range of materials from bicycles to carpets, IT equipment, tools, shoes, furniture, paper, in fact items too numerous to mention. In addition to this they now have a community café. Thanks to funding from Food Futures, the Manchester project promoting healthy, sustainable, enjoyable food for all, Tree of Life Withenshaw were able to open the community café and have now been awarded Silver Status by the project.

From a slow start the cafe is now buzzing. Its ambitious goal is to create a culture of good food in the city of Manchester, based on the belief that good food is enjoyable, safe, nutritious, environmentally sustainable, and produced ethically and fairly - no-one should have this right denied because of where they live, their income or their background.

2nd Chance Furniture Re-use
2nd Chance Furniture Re-Use Project in Nuneaton has joined forces with Goods Again to form a partnership to offer a greater variety of refurbished white goods at its Weddington Terrace warehouse.

Goods Again works with the prisoners at HM Prison and Young Offenders Institution Onley to repair and refurbish white electrical goods to be sold by furniture re-use projects such as 2nd Chance. Goods Again was set up in 2005 with funding from the prison service and from the Big Lottery through the CRED (Community Recycling and Economic Development) programme.   At present, 24 prisoners repair and refurbish items such as cookers, washing machines, fridges and freezers which are either rescued from civic amenity sites or donated direct by the public.   Prisoners gain skills and will also soon be able to gain qualifications that will enable them to be more employable when released from prison.

Peter Whitehead, 2nd Chance Project Manager, said "This is a really exciting development for us and one which we know is greatly needed by the local community.   Up until now we have been unable to meet the demand for white goods and all too often".

Contact: Peter Whitehead peterw@caha.org.uk 024 7632 6189

Bridport TLC

Carpet World in Bridport, was one of the first businesses to receive the award. Owner Luke Gatehouse said, "We're delighted to be working with Bridport TLC. We have substantially reduced the amount of waste taken to landfill by simply sorting and separating different recyclable materials. We now have our adhesive cans, metal carpet grippers and plastic collected by the group, as well as all of our paper and cardboard." He added, "On behalf of local businesses I would like to say how lucky the town is to have this group. Their hard work and enthusiasm has certainly helped us meet recent Government Directives on waste for which we are very thankful."

Project Manager, Leon Edwards said, "We hope that the public will recognise and support those businesses who have worked with us to find solutions to reducing their waste. With little effort they have substantially cut the amount they put in the ground and made financial savings as well, which ultimately benefits the local economy as well as the environment."

It is not just businesses who are setting new standards. Residents in Skilling and Allington can also be applauded as a result of last years WRAP-funded communications project that led to a massive 10% increase in kerbside participation in the area. Development Worker, Rosie Jones who co-ordinated the door-knocking and Activity Days said she was delighted by the response. "Not only did Bridport exceed the 7% target that the government wanted but tonnage rates increased in all the areas of West Dorset where we ran the campaign - an average 5% increase over those areas we did not."

Bridport TLC were also recently named Green Champions by West Dorset District Council, came second in the national Observer/Ecover Ethical Awards in 'Best DIY Project for their community biodiesel project , were applauded by Oliver Letwin MP as "a splendid community project", and are regularly featured in regional and national media. Last month their Project Manager was listed in the annual 'Hot 100' of movers and shakers by 'Resource', the Waste Industry magazine.

"All this indicates we must be doing something right" said Tess Dickson, who co-ordinates schools activities and makes long-life shopping bags from sacks collected locally. "The energy and commitment from our volunteers is what makes all this possible. Bridport is literally moving mountains, which is incredible considering we only have one part time employee and don't get any local authority grants. However, we're developing even more partnerships."

In response to increasing calls from the public for help in recycling even more materials, their depot will now take clean plastic milk bottle tops, school uniforms from any local school, aluminium foil, vegetable oil, and soft plastic wrappings (cling film, bubble-wrap, plastic bags). Bridport TLC also run a variety of projects including bike recycling, schools performances, workshops, biodiesel, rickshaws and long-life recycled bags. Last month they ran a successful Christmas tree shredding scheme with local Groves Nurseries.

Cheltenham Centre for Change

Cheltenham Centre for Change's furniture re-use scheme Reclaim moved across town in early January and within a few hours of its open day exceeded a normal week's sales. The day began with a few words from John Davidson, chairman of Global Dimensions Trust and the Mayor John Rawson, sales then took off - even the buffet tables were sold to a local community group!

Project Manager John Mallows puts the success down to the committed efforts of the Reclaim team, mainly volunteers, led by supervisor Craig Dickson and the publicity campaign orchestrated by Rebecca Dobs at Vision 21, resulting in two near whole page articles in the local press, radio interviews and targeted leafleting

The new premises are located at the entrance to an industrial estate and are conveniently on bus routes and close to the station. Although the new premises are smaller, the focus has been on quality and this has paid off with a much brisker turnover and takings staying high enough to underpin most of the running costs.

As well as the landlord offering free use of his carpenter, plumber and electrician to get the project fitted out, Reclaim have also benefited from their position on an industrial estate.   Their location offers plenty of opportunities to spread the Centre's sustainability messages and Reclaim have received assistance from local businesses in the form of voluntary help and in a variety of other areas including fire training, industrial sewing machine use, donations of upholstery fabric and other goods - even assistance from a local garage to start a van with a flat battery.   "Maybe we can sometimes be too wary of the small business sector", says John, who is exploring ways to benefit from partnership with a commercial recycling company on the estate.

Contact: John Mallows 01242 570111 johnmallows@cheltenhamcentreforchange.org.uk

FRC Group

The past few months have seen both the FRC Group and Bulky Bob's win a host of awards including the Guardian Public Services Awards for Innovation and Progress. Now Liverpool's FRC Group and its bulky household waste collection service Bulky Bob's have taken home two more awards from the 9 th Groundwork Environmental Awards. Bulky Bob's picked up the Environmental Innovation and Technology Award and the FRC Group was awarded the Community Stewardship Award for Social Enterprises.

Winning in both categories they were nominated for at the Groundwork Environmental Awards, Bulky Bob's and the FRC Group are understandably thrilled with their success.   Alan Smith, Business Development Manager for Bulky Bob's said, "Everyone at Bulky Bob's is very proud. It's great to be recognised for what we have achieved, but our approach is to strive for more. We want to keep on finding innovative ways to make a positive impact on the environment."

Alison Ball, Director of People and Learning for the FRC Group was equally pleased, "We are delighted to receive this award that recognises all the hard work that our staff, trainees and volunteers put in to make social and environmental change happen in the communities we work in."

Bulky Bob's is part of the Furniture Resource Centre Group, founded in 1988 as a small community based response to poverty. The purple collection vans are a well known and popular sight around Liverpool.   The FRC Group invents business solutions for social and environmental problems. Now as well as Bulky Bob's, the group runs Revive store in Liverpool and Widnes to sell the furniture they collect to low-income families and also the Cat's Pyjamas, helping to create and supporting social businesses across the UK.

Groundwork on Merseyside took up the challenge to promote awareness of sustainability issues nine years ago by creating the Groundwork Merseyside Environmental Awards. The awards are a showcase event that gives community groups, schools, businesses and public authorities an opportunity to demonstrate that they are playing their part in the sustainable development of Greater Merseyside.

Contact: Alison Ball alisonb@frcgroup.co.uk 0151 702 0550
 

Gloucestershire's Furniture Recycling Project

Gloucestershire's Furniture Recycling Project has received the inaugural President's Award as the furniture reuse project of the year 2007.

The Furniture Reuse Network (FRN) announced the winners of the first President's Awards, sponsored by Amaryllis Environmental Services, at the FRN Annual Conference held in Cheshire.

 
The judges said they were particularly impressed by the training and volunteering opportunities the winning project had created. The Furniture Recycling Project in Gloucestershire had, in a year when extra demands were made due to the summer flooding crisis, provided placements for 130 unemployed people and supplied over 5,000 households with essential furniture.

Ian Ellis, Chief Executive of the Furniture Recycling Project said "This award is greatly appreciated and is testament to the hard work and dedication of those who have been involved in the Project, both past and present during our 11 years of operation. We look forward to continuing our work to improve our community and our environment." He added "We were also a victim of the flooding and have found temporary premises for our electrical team, but these will not be available after the 31 March and our existing premises may not be ready until July/August".

Gloucestershire County Council has had a long association with the project and Chief Executive Peter Bungard said "We would like to add our congratulations to the Gloucestershire Furniture Recycling Project for winning this prestigious national award. Their valuable work in Gloucestershire provides benefits on several fronts. As well as finding new homes for furniture and appliances which prevents its costly disposal in landfill sites, the project also provides valuable opportunities for local people to get involved."

Contact: Ian Ellis office@frpglos.org.uk 01452 302303

Mid Devon Community Recycling & Proper Job

Phil Hope MP, the minister for the third sector, recently visited two south west community waste organisations as part of a drive to identify the issues facing social enterprises and the barriers that are slowing their business development. His tour took him to Proper Job Ltd at Chagford, Devon and also to Mid Devon Community Recycling.  

Phil Hope said, "The South West seems to be a natural home for social enterprise because its people care about their environment and their communities. If there is a problem, they don't wait around for someone else to fix it; they get on and do it themselves. They show that business can produce much more than just profit, what ever its size. They are now taken seriously as the future of business, as consumers demand ethical practice such as fair trade and environmental conservation. Visiting the third sector is helping me to learn about their specific challenges. I will take what I learn back to Westminster and see that their concerns are voiced and achievements recognised."

The Minister spent about an hour and a half with each organisation, talking to a variety of staff, volunteers and managers.

Ken Orchard, Chief Executive of Mid Devon Community Recycling said, "The Minister spent a good amount of time with us and as well as a tour of the operation we were able to have a really in depth discussion - particularly about contracts. He showed an impressive understanding of the issues and a determination to ensure they are addressed".

Contact: Ken Orchard 01392 883031 ken.orchard@mdcr.org

Monmouthshire Community Recycling

Residents of St Arvans Zero Waste Village were joined in February by Jane Davidson, Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, to celebrate the success of the project seven months after it was launched.

The minister took a tour with Monmouthshire Community Recycling (MCR) and Recycling Officers from Monmouthshire County Council viewing the collection around the village. Monmouthshire County Council uses Monmouthshire Community Recycling as a contractor to carry out recycling in St. Arvans. Since the launch in June 2007, the village has achieved a 95% participation rate and a 77% diversion rate.

J ane Davidson said, "Our effect on the planet is called our 'ecological footprint'.   Wales' ecological footprint is the lowest of all the UK regions. But as a nation we are still using three planets worth of the earth's resources, which is why I am delighted to see how well the residents of St Arvans have embraced this innovative project working to reduce waste in the local community.

"Waste reduction is key to fighting climate change as waste currently makes up 14% of Wales' ecological footprint.    If we want to reduce our ecological footprint, it is crucial that we all follow the example being set in St Arvans and look not only to reduce waste but to increase the proportion that is recycled."

The Zero Waste Village project will run for five years in total, and is supported by Environment Wales with funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, and by Monmouthshire County Council's Community Economic Development Scheme.

Recycling in Ottery.
Recycling Ottery have been invited to carry out an environmental survey on their local church with a view to advising them on possible wind and solar installations. This installation work will help to raise the local profile of the organisation and also demonstrates the working partnership between diverse local community groups. Partnership working is also being demonstrated in the future tree planting days being organised by Recycling in Ottery, the parish tree warden, the local green councillor and the local schools.

Contact: Chris Cattigain 01404 815825 staff_and_serpent@yahoo.com

Bradford Environmental Action Trust
www.whywaste.org.uk a project run by Bradford Environmental Action Trust are delighted to announce that their Space Of Waste building - made from other people’s waste, has been nominated for the prestigious Architects’ Journal Small Projects Award.  Winners will be announced on the 4 March and an exhibition of the nominated entries is will take place at the Building Centre, London from 5 March for six weeks.

The innovative architecture project, which aims to raise awareness of diverting waste material from landfill, was commissioned by www.whywaste.org.uk, the free online waste exchange for businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber.  It was designed and built by postgraduate architecture Students from the University of Sheffield with structural calculations by Arup.

The project ran for 6 weeks from delivery of the brief to the temporary building’s opening to the public in Sheffield’s Tudor Square. Finding and using reclaimed and recycled material from the waste exchange set an interesting challenge for the young architects as form most definitely followed available material, with exciting results.

Sarah Hunt, one of the architecture students involved in the project said, “The construction industry is one of the UK’s most wasteful. By taking an unconventional approach to the design process, we were forced to rethink the way in which materials can be used. Architects and designers have the potential to divert a lot of waste from landfill and create building and objects that are both beautiful and original.”

The building is designed to be demountable and is going on tour this spring to cities throughout the region raising awareness for the valuable resource currently misnamed ‘waste’.

The construction aspect of the build has been overseen by Geoff Stow, self-build expert and timber-frame construction lecturer at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales. The project has also been supported by Arup, the Green Building Store, Sheffield City Council, South Yorkshire Women’s Construction Centre and reclaimed timber social enterprise, TP Trading.

Contact: Dan McTiernan on 01274 718420 or email dan@beat.org,.uk  

WyeCycle
The community recycling organisation that operates in the villages of Wye & Brook near Ashford in Kent, has been blowing its own trumpet over the news that the two parishes throw out the least amount of residual waste in the country.

During 2007 they undertook two waste audits, one in the summer and one in winter, for the Behavioural Change project funded by WRAP and Kent County Council. This detailed study of a household’s residual waste entailed collecting binbags left out for refuse collection from a random, cross section of the community, separating the waste into a number of categories - plastics, metals, glass, food, etc - and weighing the resulting collections. Having then established the proportions by weight of these selected waste types in the residual waste stream, the results are tabulated and used as a basis for strategies to improve recycling rates and decrease waste going to landfill.

For Wyecycle’s purpose, the quantity of recyclable material still remaining, and the means of its capture is of particular importance, as is the results for average weight of residual waste per household per year. In Wye and Brook this now stands at 262kg. From statistics taken in 2006, supplied by Defra, the average weight of residual waste from the ten best performing local authorities in the country was 471kg per household per year.

Project Manager Carolyn Chandler said the residents of Wye and Brook should be congratulated on their continued efforts to reduce waste going to landfill.

WyeCycle would welcome any residual waste figures from other community recyclers or local authorities for comparison purposes.

Contact: Carolyn Chandler 01233 813298 info@wyecycle.org.uk  www.wyecycle.co.uk

CSV Environment – Run a Muck Project
CSV Run a Muck introduced a groundbreaking new recycling service in Birmingham in September, their waste cooking oil doorstep collection scheme.  This unique service offers householders in east Birmingham the chance to turn their waste cooking oil into useful biodiesel, and at the same time reduce pollution in local streams and rivers.

CSV Run a Muck is now running fortnightly collections for six months in the Bordesley Green and Saltley areas.  Residents in the collection area can register to get involved, and receive a free collection vessel, funnel and information card. 

Julian Stanton, Run a Muck Project Manager, said at the launch “We are really looking forward to getting started on this project, which we believe to be one of the first of its kind nationwide.  While there are quite a lot of organisations collecting waste cooking oil from restaurants and takeaways, no-one has really tried to tap the potential resource from domestic sources.  We are proud of the fact that Birmingham is again leading the way nationally with innovation in recycling.”

Run a Muck Community Recycling has been operating in the east Birmingham area since 2002, with an initial focus on collecting and composting green garden waste.  Having inspired the establishment of city-wide garden waste composting, the programme has moved on to provide a range of recycling services, including recycling bulky waste and smaller items that are usually overlooked, such as jewellery, stamps and birthday cards. Funding for this project has been supplied by Birmingham Environment Partnership, and CSV Environment also acknowledges the support of Birmingham City Council and the Big Lottery Fund’s CRED programme.

Contact: Julian Stanton 0121 328 5330, or julian@csvenvironment.org.uk

Family First
Nottingham people looking for homes for affordable rent will be able to move in quicker thanks to recycling and housing charity Family First.

Family First will now collect unwanted furniture and electrical items that has been left in socially rented homes when tenants have moved out. This means the homes can be re-let quicker, less furniture is taken to landfill when the homes are being prepared to be re-let and those items can then be donated to those in need . Any furniture that is not suitable for re-distributing will be sold in Family First’s charity shops at Kilbourn Street, in Nottingham, and Low Street, in Sutton-In-Ashfield.

Family First, which is part of the LHA-ASRA group, is going to operate the new system in its own 400 homes in Nottinghamshire. Should the scheme be successful it may be rolled out to sister organisation LHA or other registered social landlords in the area.

Patrick Taylor Managing Director of Family First said, “The great thing about this new system is that it’s so simple and everyone will benefit. New tenants can move into their homes quicker, we’re helping the environment by recycling unwanted furniture and people who are in need are given a helping hand by Family First.”

The organisation helps people who are setting up home for the first time, for whom essential furniture and white goods, such as washing machines and fridges, can be prohibitively expensive. As well as furniture, Family First collects children’s clothing, buggies, cots, highchairs and toys through their Kidstuff project, and distribute to people on low incomes. During 2006-07 they collected 8,500 items, benefiting 1,100 tenants. Six vans collect donations from the general public and businesses across Nottinghamshire.  The items are checked, cleaned, reconditioned and distributed where they are needed most by a team of volunteers.

Contact: Patrick Taylor 0800 013 0497 www.familyfirst.org.uk

EMERGE
EMERGE Recycling receives nearly half a million to fund the ‘REAL Skills Programme’. The organisation has received a £460,550 cash injection to continue and expand an innovative schools, volunteer and community education programme, that will teach people across Greater Manchester valuable lessons on sustainable living. The project, aptly named 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Enterprise and Leadership (REAL) Skills Programme, will also work to increase regional volunteers to get actively involved in the environmental sector, and High School Students to get involved in local Social Enterprises.

Jo-Anne Witcombe, Education and Community Liaison Team Leader said: “EMERGE Recycling is absolutely delighted to receive the Reaching Communities grant from the Big Lottery Fund to deliver the 'REAL skills programme' in Greater Manchester. The grant will be a huge boost to our organisation and to the communities we serve, and we feel very privileged to receive it.”

The programme will start in April 2008 and will run for 3 years.

Also EMERGE Recycling has implemented a new style of battery recycling, specifically for businesses, which will comply with the up and coming Batteries Directive, due to become law September 2008. The service is easy to use and complies with the 2005 Hazardous waste regulations. Fun and informative boxes are used to collect AAA to laptop batteries.

Contact: http://www.emergemanchester.co.uk/  0161 2238200