The Furniture Recycling Project in Gloucester is delighted to announce that the Tudor Trust has awarded them a grant of £50,000 over two years. This generous grant will help to support the costs of the Project’s electrical department.
The Furniture Recycling Project (FRP) is a charity who works to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged households throughout Gloucestershire by providing donated reuse furniture and electrical items for sale at low-cost.
The electrical department, which was severely affected by the flooding of 2007, is now gradually returning to its normal activities after being without a home for nearly two years. This funding will help with its sustainability during the period of the funding.
A number of positive impacts are derived from the work that the electrical department does. For example, a positive environmental impact is that by reusing around 750 electrical goods a year, we are saving approximately 25 tonnes of electrical waste from the waste stream, and reducing carbon emissions by 225 tonnes. A positive social impact is that low-income families are able to purchase low-cost electrical goods that saves them money and keeps them from going into debt. The low-cost electrical goods are very popular with our customers; many times electrical items will be sold within just hours of arriving on our shop floor.
Our electrical department also trains young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). In this department, the young people receive training in electrical appliance testing, electrical safety, workshop and warehouse safety, and basic skills. Around half of these young people go on to further training, apprenticeships, or employment by the time they finish their training programme with the Project.
Chris Wadge of the electrical department said, “this grant is great news for the electrical department as this will give us some security for the future. It will allow us to secure premises for another couple of years, as well as let us invest in new equipment. It also means that we can continue both our electrical testing work, and the training of the young people who come to us for an experience of working in a real-world working environment.”
The Tudor Trust is an independent grant-making trust that supports organisations working across the UK. They provide funding in order to encourage organisations to find new ways of tackling deep-rooted problems or to cope with difficult situations. The Tudor Trust said we are “impressed with your [Furniture Recycling Project] approach and can see the positive outcomes of the work, including the training and support to people with a variety of needs, as well as the environmental benefits from recycling furniture and goods.”