MEMBERS NEWS

Family First
The Nottingham-based charity Family First has been officially declared a centre of excellence for its furniture recycling services. It is now an Approved Re-use Centre (ARC) of Business Excellence, accredited by FRN Enterprises.

Community Resources, Family First's recycling division, was awarded the accolade because of the comprehensive systems in place and the training and leadership opportunities it provides.

The FRN (Furniture Re-use Network) assessed the charity's supply of new and reused furniture as well as its transport and collections service, including the removal of bulky waste.

Dilwyn Evans, Senior Service Manager at Family First said,

"This is a great achievement. Family First is now one of only 14 centres across the UK to be selected as a centre of excellence for furniture recycling.

The award shows the high quality of service we can offer to both residents in need of furniture and also members of the public and businesses making donations of unwanted goods."

Family First currently has a fleet of six vans which travel around Nottinghamshire collecting donations of good quality, unwanted furniture such as sofas and beds, electrical items and children's equipment like cots and pushchairs. Essential items are then redistributed for free to people in need and non-essential items are sold at low cost in the charity's two shops, in Alfred Street North, Nottingham, and Low Street, in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

The charity, which manages almost 400 homes in Nottingham, developed its recycling service to help tenants who are moving into a new home and cannot afford to buy even essential pieces of furniture such as a bed.

Family First is part of the LHA-ASRA housing and regeneration group.

Contact: www.familyfirst.org.uk patricktaylor@familyfirst.org.uk

Furniture Re-use Network
The FRN has secured the rights to use the Womble name to run a national day focussed on re-use.  This as a great opportunity to raise funds for the FRN and its members and to raise the profile of the work that they do.

The activities planned are as follows:

1) A national raffle of celebrity household goods.  The FRN is currently seeking donations of household items from celebrities from the worlds of music, sport, TV and more.  Some of these items will become raffle prizes.  Tickets will be distributed to FRN members wishing to participate.  The income from the sales of tickets will be split between the project selling them and the FRN.  The FRN will publicise the tickets outlets to fan websites so that people interested in the items know where they can buy them.  We will set up a page on the FRN website detailing the projects that hold tickets.

2) An auction of items not in the raffle on the day of the Big Womble at Wimbledon College.  This will be a ticket only event and we will be seeking corporate attendances to ensure that bids bring in a significant amount of money.

3) They will be encouraging organisations to run local events and invite the local media in the week of the Big Womble.  They are keen to see awareness raising and fundraising activity across the UK.

The Big Womble, October 2008, Wimbledon College

www.frn.org.uk   pauls@frn.org.uk

Green-Works
Two huge containers packed full of redundant office equipment, furniture and hardware are on their way to support the post-civil war reconstruction of Sierra Leone. Used furniture social enterprise Green-Works is in charge of the delivery with the furniture coming from the Royal Sun Alliance offices in Dublin, offices that have been stripped out as the company merges into one big headquarters in Dundrum.

This redundant equipment including desks, storage and office chairs will be used to refurnish the schools, libraries and civic buildings in Waterloo, Sierra Leone, an area that has been ravaged by civil war in recent history. Alongside this office furniture two diesel generators are also being transported which will provide power for a hospital.

The equipment in this load will also completely refurbish the Ministry of Land's offices in the capital, something which Sierra Leone's minister of lands Dr Ben Johnson believes will help the country with its vital regeneration work.

'"We are still the second poorest country in the world and we are using all our money to improve the health of children and women and to provide education for all" said Johnson.

"This generous offer will allow us to provide a first class workplace for our staff, something that the government could not have achieved on its own for many years."

Green-Works CEO Colin Crooks said he hoped the success of this project would help other big corporates think beyond the 'easy' landfill option.

www.green-works.co.uk   info@green-works.co.uk

South Molton Recycle (SMR)
South Molton Recycle have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark by RISE and joined a growing number of high profile social enterprise Mark holders including Bristol Community Transport, The Zebra Collective, Mid-Devon Community Recycling, COSMIC, the Co-operative Group South West, Devon Doctors and the Eden Project.

SMR's aim is to protect the environment by reducing pollution and saving resources by cutting down the amount of waste going to landfill. They also provide employment for local people, support educational visits on recycling, give employment and work experience to disadvantaged members of the community and supervise workers on community service.

The Social Enterprise Mark is a way for social enterprises to promote their value-driven business to customers. The Mark also aims to help social enterprises benefit from the growth in ethical consumerism. It is a mark of assurance - of right thinking and bright thinking - for social enterprises trading in South West England.

The Social Enterprise Mark is funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund and it is sponsored by the South West Regional Development Agency, The Co-operative Group and Triodos Bank.

www.southmoltonrecycle.com    info@smrl.co.uk

Wirral Local Agenda 21 Network
Wirral Local Agenda 21 Network have moved to:

The Sandon Building, Falkland Road, Wallasey, CH44 8ER.
Phone number remains unchanged 0151 639 2121, fax number is now 0151 639 4826.

RePaint is now based in two 20-foot containers, which totals some 50% more space. These containers are 'shipworthy', which means they don't leak, paint tins no longer need to be placed off the floor on pallets and can be arranged in types as well as colours, which makes them much easier to look through. It also means that   Wirral Local Agenda 21 Network can now handle wallpaper and borders, something they have been previously been asked about.

Paint can also now be provided to individuals, for a minimum donation of 50p per litre; the annual subscription scheme for community groups remains unchanged.

www.wirralla21forum.org.uk    jim@LA21.net

WyeCycle
On Monday 1 September, WyeCycle will carry out their 1000 th consecutive weekly kerbside collection.

Founded in 1989, Kent based WyeCycle is a not-for-profit community business providing a wide range of waste reduction services in the parishes of Wye and Brook. Activities include multi-material kerbside collections, community composting, trade waste services, furniture reuse, and biodiesel production.  

WyeCycle have pioneered many of the waste management practices now becoming commonplace throughout the UK: kerbside collection of kitchen organics, fortnightly residual waste collection, direct charging for garden organics. Kerbside residual waste levels in WyeCycle's operational area are an average of 260kg per household per year, probably among the lowest in the country.

Richard Boden, WyeCycle founder and co-ordinator commented,

"We are delighted to have reached this milestone, and are equally pleased to see the methods we follow - which for many years were described by the experts as 'unworkable' and 'unrealistic' - now becoming standard practice. We would like to thank all the local residents who support our work, as well as our partners at Ashford Borough and Kent County Councils."   

www.wyecycle.co.uk   info@wyecycle.org.uk

South Shropshire Furniture Scheme
The bulky waste waste collection service in South Shropshire is now being operated by CRN UK member South Shropshire Furniture Scheme. Jean Jarvis Chief Executive of SSFS and director of the Shropshire Community Recycling Network (SCRN) said,

"This is a really exciting development. The contract will give us wider access to the household items that people throw away, giving us a larger supply of re-useable items to redistribute to people on low incomes. We have had huge support from the Shropshire Waste Partnership and Veolia have great confidence in our ability to deliver this contract. We are joining a very elite UK group of community enterprises delivering this kind of service - which is great news for Shropshire."

Donald Macphail, managing director of Veolia ES Shropshire Ltd said,

"Veolia currently operates the bulky waste collection service in South Shropshire on behalf of the Shropshire Waste Partnership.   We have subcontracted this service to the South Shropshire Furniture Scheme.   They will be collecting with the aim of re-using any suitable materials, reducing the waste that currently goes to landfill."  

Joy Blizzard, waste minimisation officer for the Shropshire Waste Partnership said,

"Often furniture and other items of bulky waste put out for collection could be reused but people don't have the means of disposing of it other than by using the council collection service.   The South Shropshire Furniture Scheme will be sorting out items that can be reused and taking them out of the waste stream. Reusing something is even better for the environment than recycling materials which need reprocessing.   So, if it has life left in it, make sure it's reused!"  

www.furniturescheme.co.uk   jean@furniturescheme.co.uk

Bristol Wood Project
Bristol City Council have extended the amount of time that Bristol Wood Recycling Project can stay at their site, potentially to three years! The site, based on Cattle Market Road, near Bristol Temple Meads train station, was due to have it's lease terminated on the 21June. Instead, the council has changed the terms of the lease, allowing the Project to stay for at least an additional 12 months, and up to three years. The Project is very positive both about the amount of time they will be able to stay and the great future this gives them.

Monmouthshire Community Recycling
A pilot scheme to establish if peoples littering habits can be changed if financial incentives were available is to be piloted in the Abergavenny area by environmental campaigners Keep Wales Tidy and kerbside recycling operators Monmouthshire Community Recycling.

The Welsh Assembly funded ‘Reward Shop’ scheme is being piloted in north Abergavenny (Monmouthshire) and currently eight shops have committed their support. Customers will receive vouchers when they return their used clean drinks cans and plastic drinks bottles. The vouchers can then be redeemed in any of the participating stores.

A maximum of 20 cans and/or plastic drinks bottles can be returned per person per day. All cans and plastic bottles collected will then be processed and recycled by the Monmouthshire Community Recycling team.
Earlier in the year Monmouthshire Community Recycling litter picked the streets of north Abergavenny to find that drinks cans and plastic drinks bottles account for more that 75% of all litter (by volume and weight).

Since beginning the project in mid June Monmouthshire Community Recycling regularly pick up over 5000 plastic bottles and cans every week. These are drinks containers that would otherwise be dropped as litter, landfilled or at very best transported to a local Civic Amenity site.

Incentivising residents has caused a behavioural change, especially amongst previous non recyclers. Anecdotal evidence has shown this scheme to be successful at engaging hard to reach groups into recycling. A return to litter analysis should show a marked reduction in the amount of plastic drinks bottles and drinks cans that were discarded during the life of this project.

In addition to evaluating the benefits of incentives the team will also investigate the long term impact that discarded cans and bottles have on the environment and the financial cost of disposing of the items in landfill sites.

Prior to the commencement of the pilot a survey was conducted to establish the current state of the environment in the locality and the survey will be repeated at the end of the pilot phase to establish if any improvements have occurred.

Tegryn Jones, Chief Executive of Keep Wales Tidy commented,

“Hopefully this project will show that there is value in empty cans and bottles. All cans and bottles returned can be recycled and turned into cash. It will also mean that the cost of collecting and transporting them to landfill sites will be greatly reduced.”

‘Reward Shop’ scheme info: 01291 430 550, or email admin@monrecycling.co.uk.

Seagull Recycling
Seagull Recycling in Lincolnshire are submitting an expression of interest to the National Lottery 'Reaching Communities' fund for development and expansion of their operations.  They are hoping to buy a green powered bio fuel vehicle enabling them to collect more items and cut down the number of miles travelled.

They are also looking at expanding their recycling facilities and starting up a Furniture Re-use scheme in partnership with Renew of Louth, who have successfully run a smaller operation for 5 years. They would like to take on a Volunteer Development and Training Officer to work with all their trainees and volunteers allowing them to develop their Craft and Resource Centre. There are plans to move into another business unit which is a purpose designed shop that can then be opened to the general public as well as their members (charities, community groups, educational establishments and many others) currently Seagull Recycling support 250 community groups.

The Craft and Resource Centre is stocked with items that are surplus to industrial usage and manufacturing processes. Items are processed here having been diverted from landfill, brought to the Recycling Centre in Skegness.

Development plans include a ‘Coastal Eco College’ delivering a wide variety of environmental and sustainability based courses that can be accessed by the local community and beyond. They will also create a hub where environmental groups and businesses from across the county can advertise themselves on the Eco College Prospectus website and use it as a conduit to increase their trade and turnover.

The Seagull Recycling Company Ltd by Guarantee will be retained as a trading arm and will undertake all of the recycling activities currently being operated. Fingers crossed that the lottery bid comes off as the developments will be really exciting!

Contact: Paul Charles Seagull Recycling Ltd www.seagull-recycling.org.uk 01754 765 746