It’s been a busy few months in the town of March, home to Commmunity RePaint Cambridgeshire, run by Cambridgeshire Community Reuse and Recycling Network (CCORRN). They have started the year with a definite spring in their step and have opened up their scheme to serve everyone (not just people on low incomes and community groups).
Their revamp includes a new membership scheme, an enlarged paint sales area with three times as much paint to choose from, low cost paint brushes and rollers, a bespoke mixing and colour matching service called Re-Mixed by CCORRN, and they are also open six days a week (10am-3pm).
They are buzzing with new ideas and have started a new service known as the The RePaint Wish List – a paint finder and reservation service for members of the public in Cambridgeshire. If you need a specific type or colour of paint or large quantities you can email a form to them so they can prepare and mix it, and let you know when it’s ready.
But perhaps best of all they’ve launched a monthly Get Painted competition which invites community groups, charities, schools, community centres and other third-sector and not for profit organisations to apply for a gift of up to 240 litres of free paint – each month one lucky winner is an announced.
They have also teamed up with other local organisations to help supply free painters too!
A community-spirited group of staff, known as the Green Team, from March-based energy management consultancy CUB volunteered their time to give Queen Adelaide Village Hall a fresh lick of paint – which of course was supplied by Community RePaint Cambrdigeshire.
Jacqui Fairfax, chairman of CUB, said: “We are a local employer and we have always believed that it is important for us to give back to the local community. We’ve worked on several projects such as tidying up with the council and with local schools as well as gardening in local parks and we’re looking forward to our next challenge.” From the looks of it they took to painting like ducks to water, so let’s hope they keep building on their new painting skills!
And what’s more, Community RePaint Cambridgeshire is also showing a flair for local partnering to replenish their paint stocks. At the beginning of May they received a generous donation of 400 litres of paint from East Anglian building company Bennett Homes. Worth more than £2,000 the paint will be distributed to individuals and community groups through the Get Painted Scheme to be used in a range of refurbishment projects.
Marcus Pheasant, Development Director at CCORRN said: “We really value the support of Bennett Homes and we will ensure that this paint ends up on walls, not in landfill so that together we can paint a brighter Cambridgeshire”.
AND coming soon… not happy to rest on their laurels for long there CCORRN is working with The Inspirations Studio in Peterborough to open Community RePaint Peterborough and a mini scrapstore near the Town Hall. You can follow the the progress of this new scheme on Twitter (@CCORRN, #Paint4Peterborough)
Follow this link to find out more about Get Painted and The RePaint Wishlist. If you have surplus paint you would like to put to good use contact CCORRN on 0845 602 7144 or email: repaint@ccorrn.org.uk
