Deptford Action Group for the Elderly (DAGE) will use the money from the Community Recycling and Economic Development (CRED) programme to increase the amount of good quality second-hand furniture it collects and re-distributes.
The funding brings the total amount awarded to London groups by the CRED programme to 521,979 so far. Although the programme has suffered from a lack of transparency (see letsrecycle.com story), there is a total of 35.2 million to be distributed to community recycling, re-use and composting projects in England.
The funding will provide a new collection vehicle and a driver as well as a charity shop manager or voluntary support worker. The group provides advice and volunteer opportunities for the elderly, and the new support worker will be working with over 40 older voluntary workers on the project.
DAGE has already carried out a pilot furniture re-use project, achieving 1,440 collections and deliveries in one year. The new funding will aim to “significantly” increase this figure.
Commenting on the award, DAGE vice chairman Harry Haward said: “This project will aim to save at least six re-usable items of furniture a day from landfill and will actively involve younger volunteers leading to the development of key employment skills and in the case of pensioners volunteering will help their social inclusion.”
The furniture will be collected from across Lewisham, Greenwich and neighbouring boroughs for sale at affordable prices to people on low incomes in the local community.
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