Veolia has been working in partnership with local furniture reuse organisation ReStore Community Projects since becoming Haringey’s waste contractor in 2011 and is promoted the partnership in celebration of the UK’s first ‘Social Saturday’ on 13th September 2014.
The partnership sees Veolia collecting reusable items of furniture for free from Haringey residents as part of the Bulky Waste Collection and delivering them to the ReStore site on Ashley Road, Tottenham Hale. The furniture is then renovated (if required) by volunteers and sold at a low cost back to local residents.
The ReStore showroom has a wide and ever-changing range of beds, settees, tables, chairs and other household furniture. ReStore operates a dual pricing structure to enable residents who have been referred to them by one of the agencies they work with, or are on benefits, low incomes, are students or OAPs to obtain furniture at the lowest price possible. Members of the public who do not fall into these categories are welcome to purchase from ReStore at a secondary price which still represents excellent value for money.
Veolia and Restore are promoting the services run as part of Social Saturday, which is a national event designed to boost the number of consumers buying from Britain’s 70,000 plus social enterprises and businesses with a social mission that reinvest their profits for good. Well known examples include The Big Issue, Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant chain, Café Direct and Divine Chocolate.
Social enterprises are starting up all over Britain – 1 in 7 of all business start-ups are now social enterprises. In villages, towns and cities up and down the country there are increasing numbers of shops, cafes, cinemas and nurseries that are run for the benefit of local communities. Social enterprises tackle social and environmental problems, and use the profits they generate to grow their businesses to do more good.
Social Saturday aims to reach thousands of people to raise awareness of social enterprises and to encourage people to spend their money with them.
Although the ReStore site is not open on Social Saturday residents can find out about other local social enterprises they could use by searching on the Social Saturday website www.socialsaturday.org.uk. All residents are invited to view the furniture on sale from 9.00am-4.00pm Monday to Friday - no appointment necessary.
Peter Holbrook, CEO of the campaigning body, Social Enterprise UK, said:
“When you buy a product or a service from a social enterprise, you directly make a positive difference to the world you live in. Through Social Saturday we want to help people find social enterprises to help them improve their local communities and the lives of people who are less fortunate and need a helping hand.”
Paul Peters, Senior Contract Manager at Veolia Haringey, said:
“We are very proud to be able to support ReStore with the valuable work they do in the community. As the old saying goes ‘one person’s rubbish is another’s treasure’. It is excellent that we can provide a service to ensure that reusable furniture is not thrown away but can be reused.”
Kevin Sukhdeo, Contracts Manager at ReStore Community Projects, said:
“ReStore has developed a range of partnerships with a variety of organisations across London and Veolia are a key partner we work with. The innovative schemes which we have with our partners ensure that a maximum amount of quality furniture is available for reuse by our clients.”