Forest Recycling Project, the not-for-profit social enterprise with environmental and social aims which runs Community RePaint East London was awarded a Santander Social Enterprise Development Award of £30,000 last Thursday at an event held in London.
The award will support Community RePaint East London to expand their Community RePaint scheme across London, collecting unwanted, leftover paint and redistributing it to local authority departments, registered providers of social housing, schools, art groups, community groups and individuals. The award will also help the organisation further develop into a robust and sustainable social enterprise providing jobs, volunteering and training opportunities to local people.
Part of the wider network of Community RePaint initiatives across the UK, Forest Recycling Project redistributed over 36,000 litres of affordable reuse paint last year. The project prevented 73 tonnes of potentially reusable paint from being thrown away.
General Manager Nicole Muris welcomed the award: “This award offers a great boost to our efforts to prevent reusable paint from going to landfill and instead distribute it to people and communities in need. We are delighted to have won.”
Partnerships & Project Development Manager Brian Kelly added: “This is great news. The money will actually unlock a further £75,000 of investment from London Reuse Ltd and the London Waste and Recycling Board to help us double the number of sites where people can take their paint for recycling and triple the number of people and groups benefiting from free or low cost, cheap and reusable paint.”