The Refurnishings scheme has been running in the
Lochaber area since 1996 collecting furniture from donors
and redistributing it to those in need. With a sparse
population and the retraction of a number of major
industries, Lochaber contains 3 of the Social Inclusion
Partnership projects operating in the Highlands where low
wages and isolation mean hardship for a significant sector
of the population. Referrals to the project come from
social services, housing officials and the Citizens Advice
Bureau and we aim to help clients with furniture and
household items such as crockery and bedding.
Apart from one part
time manager, the project is run entirely by volunteers who
keep the van on the road in all weathers five days a week.
Approximately 1,500 items are used to assist approximately
500 customers a year. The work of the project combines
social objectives with environmental goals. We are saving
furniture that would otherwise go to landfill and assisting
people setting up home or who don't have the resources to
purchase new items.
As a result of the grant we recovered,
checked and redistributed over 300 electrical household
items in the year October 2002 to September 2003.
The initial aim was to focus on
fridges and freezers, taking advantage of the fact that the
EU regulations on the recovery of ozone depleting
substances required the separate collection of fridges.
We set a target of 100 fridges to be
recovered.
Unfortunately the need to destroy door seals
to make the appliances safe reduced their potential for
reuse.
While the local authority were happy to
co-operate, the fridges were more viable for spares than
for recovery.
Despite this difficulty we recovered and
redistributed 58 fridges or freezers.
Because of this setback we decided to
take proactive steps to encourage the donation of
electrical goods and used the grant to print leaflets which
were distributed through the local branches of Currys and
Scottish Hydro.
Publicity resulted in increased donations of
electrical goods and we provided clients with 540 cookers,
13 washing machines, 18 dryers and 19 vacuums.
In addition to the larger white goods we
provided safety checks and redistributed smaller items such
as kettles, toasters, lamps and room heaters.
Records were kept to calculate the
weight of the value of goods redistributed.
This was based on a table devised by SEPA
and Grangemouth Enterprises.
This gave a total estimated weight of 8.23
tonnes during the first year for electrical items.
The estimated value based on second-hand
prices in the Highland area is £10,435.
Contact
Susan Carstairs
Development Officer
Lochaber Environmental Group
c/o TEC Services
Inverlochy
Fort William
PH33 6LS
Telephone: 01397 700090
Email:
lochenvgp@lochaberenvironmental.freeserve.co.uk