We wanted to gain a better understanding of the contract between the council and furniture project- which is based upon geographical location and solely to service re-cycle centres. We learned that this is a procurement contract and cannot be implemented for the east of the region unless it goes through the same criteria. The furniture can be of varying states of repair depending upon the recycle site and the operatives based there as to what is put aside for the project or put into landfill. The dedicated use of a van for this operation is essential as some locations can take all day to collect from and as there are over 10 sites to collect each week, a specific van is needed. This will involve further costs in the start up- if SHAX could get a contract for this region, this will also mean recruitment of colleagues helping the local community.
Funding of all of the projects has become more difficult over time but the Furniture Project have lots of windfarms in their location which might help put them in a stronger position for funding in the future. The shop was well laid out and gave a few options for our renovation project going forward, we will need to invest in shop shelving going forward to utilise space better.
The idea of recruiting volunteers specifically for areas of the shop was intriguing as it ensured the volunteer knew their area of work when they turned up as well ensuring each section of the shop had someone that took ownerships and gave it the TLC that it needed.
We discussed working in collaboration if the ZERO waste park is built in Dumfries. The project has been shelved for the last 5 years but it has been discussed that it is option for the future. The council meetings I have attended have indicated that this project will be revived and working with the furniture project with their expertise in this contract already will be invaluable.
Unfortunately, the Bike re-cycle project that we were keen to develop doesn’t seem worth it, due to the prohibitive training costs that incur a two week residential stay. The money made on each bike re-cycled was not enough to cover the basic overheads and costs of materials. The bikes were better off going to scrap merchants as more value to the bike than repairs, this was apparent due to the 100+ bikes lying around in their yard open to the elements.
Electric vehicles, specifically electric vans are not worth it currently. The Project has two vans, one transit size and one Kangoo size. The Kangoo size does not have the range to do much, it is used as a run about town, range of about 50-60 miles. The transit van has a range of 150 miles maximum before recharging and this can take up to 4-5 hours depending on charging unit used. It would be no good to us, as we have a large geographical area to cover and only have a window of 60 minutes to re-charge the van for the second run of the day. The use of heaters/radio/wind screen wipers also have a detrimental effect on the vehicles range and as such it is not a viable option for the charity currently.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the contract to provide homelessness services between the council and The furniture project, what it entails, what are the benefits and drawbacks and see if I can develop one for our charity.
- Understand the the Furniture project have collection points for donated goods at council run waste re-cycling sites, I need to understand how this relationship started and what benefits and negativities this has brought to the organisation. And conduct a site visit to one of these collection points to see it in action.
- Any future projects that The Furniture project are looking to do and see if I can be part of the process to ensure we provide a united front and benefit from collaborative working.