In February 2021, Community RePaint Cambridgeshire underwent a radical transformation to share its space with a COVID vaccination centre in the REMO Eco-Superstore in Wisbech.
The NHS approached Community RePaint Cambridgeshire (hosted by CCORRN) who needed a space large enough with good access and a whole host of other site-specific requirements.
Until January, the scheme had only shared the space with the local food bank, however as a community organisation who creatively rescue and repurpose resources the team felt compelled to oblige when the request came in.
A small team worked remarkably quickly to compress the retail area, moving stock, shelving and postponing some projects to assist with the smooth transition of transforming the space. The new COVID vaccination centre will have the capacity to vaccinate up to 500 people a day, 7 days a week.
When it came to painting some of the partition walls between the two spaces, the scheme supplied the contractors with ReColour Heavenly Horizon remanufactured paint to inject a much need colour boost to the bare plasterboard on the retail space side.
Kevin Smith, Horsefair Centre Manager, said: “We are very pleased that the NHS has chosen this easily accessible location in the heart of Wisbech and we will continue to offer our support to them whilst they are here.”
Dr David Vickers, Medical Director, Cambridge Community Services NHS Trust said: “The centres are capable of delivering thousands of vaccines in the coming weeks and provide a major boost to our plans to offer protection to those who would benefit most quickly as possible.”
Community RePaint Cambridgeshire first opened in 2011, located in March, and recently opened their Wisbech store in 2020. The scheme is now one of the largest in the network. Run by Cambridgeshire Community Reuse and Recycling Network (CCORRN), they collect around 60,000 litres of paint each year. This includes part-full containers of paint from households via a number of recycling centres in the region. They also receive donations from traders, retailers and manufacturers in the region.
If you have a community space, school, sports centre or religious building you’d like to decorate, read more about our ReColour paint, starting at just £1 a litre!
