Categories: Case Studies

Community RePaint East London colouring the community


Diverting paint from waste streams
One key aim of Community RePaint is to collect reusable, leftover paint and redistribute it to individuals, families, communities and charities in need. This also diverts leftover paint from the waste stream. FRP collects large quantities of paint from its local council run recycling centres where it has been dropped off by local residents. FRP also collects leftover or end of line stock paint from local decorators, retailers and other companies.

Brightening homes and spaces
The network aims to allow everyone in the community the opportunity to brighten their spaces and lives. The 40,000 litres of paint collected and redistributed by FRP each year allows at least 25,000 individuals to brighten their homes at affordable prices, especially beneficial for those living on low incomes.

“I knew I needed to paint my
house, but I was on benefits.
You know when something
is not looking nice, but after
painting it you get that sense of
‘wow, it’s lovely’.”
Victoria, a local resident

Colouring the community
Every year the scheme helps over 180 community groups to brighten their spaces using affordable paint. For example, a Hackney Community Grant allowed GoodGym to team up with FRP to provide paint for six local renovation projects in the community.

Supporting artists
The scheme contributed to the creation of nine local murals through the Colour the Capital project. Run in collaboration with Global Street Art and funded by The People’s Millions, the project has left a vibrant and lasting legacy in the community which has been welcomed by local residents and inspired other local street artists in the area.

Volunteering opportunities
Run by four full time staff members, the scheme also has a fantastic team of volunteers. These volunteer opportunities have helped a number of people get back into work, providing valuable skills and experience.

“I was unemployed, and the Job 
Centre asked me if I wanted
to volunteer because I was a
painter before. It gives me lots
of confidence, it’s built my
confidence up a lot.”
Peter, an FRP volunteer

You can download the case study on the Forest Recycling Project or head over to their website for more information.

Newcastle townhouse transformed using paint from Community RePaint Morpeth

The project inhabited a 3 storey empty townhouse in the centre of Newcastle, with the help of The Empty Space to transform the space. The townhouse was formed of a series of old offices and was converted into an art space by re-purposing what was found in the building and used paint from our scheme in Morpeth to decorate the walls.

The paint was used in a number of different rooms which can be seen in the pictures below. One of these was the ground floor area that features the orange chairs, as well as the Red Room and the Yellow Gratitude Room.

To find out more about the project, go to the Mint Moon website here http://www.mintmoon.org.uk/

Disney mural revealed at Wardle Scout HQ

The main hall upstairs was last decorated some 35 years ago. It is a high, a large space and difficult to paint. The Beavers, Cubs, Leaders and Parents spent the Bank Holiday weekend in May 2016 cleaning and painting it with magnolia. The work took 9 months of weekend visits in the HQ By the artists Anthony Kitchingman and Rosie Benson.

Norma Brandon, 1st Wardle Scout Group, said: “We handed it over to two artists who had expressed in interest in painting in a manner suitable for Scouting of all ages to enjoy it. Rosie Benson and Anthony Kitchingman both work full-time and have given up many weekends since July 2016 to draw and then paint the room. We wanted the room to be personalised to the Scout Group and to reflect the Jungle Book theme which the Cub section is based on – and this is what has been created. It is a true work of art.

The young people have watched how the mural developed from initial drawings on the wall to all the extra insects, birds, butterflies and creepy crawlies that were added in the last few weekends. Most of the paint used has been donated.

The magnolia paint was donated by B&J Painters & Decorators and the Dulux Paint Centre, the paint for the mural was donated by Community RePaint run by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing“.

See the full article from Rochdale Online here or to watch the video of the full transformation, head over to our Facebook page here.

Gloss paint used by the Inside Out Trust

Gloss paint donated by Community RePaint Bradford is used by the Inside Out Trust in their workshop in HMP Liverpool. Prisoners there refurbish and paint wheelchairs (donated from NHS and Red Cross centres) and bicycles (donated from Center Parcs, council waste sites and police lost property).

This is part of a project run by the Trust to provide prisoners with new skills which they use to provide goods and services to people all over the world. The project aids their chances of getting employment on their release and generally makes them feel more positive about their contribution to society.

Wheelchairs and bicycles have then been sent by Human Appeal International for use by disadvantaged people in Iraq.

Refurbished bikes ready for donation to Iraq

Prudhoe community allotment uses paint on their plot

Thanks to Community RePaint Morpeth, Prudhoe Community Allotment has been able to paint all of their wooden out buildings, fences and raised beds on their Community Allotment site.

‘It was quite a project’ said Joan Russell, Allotment Co-ordinator ‘with 5 sheds of varying sizes to paint including a summerhouse. We also refurbished the boundary fencing which was extensive and all the raised beds which are made from wooden palisades.’

It took the volunteers 3 to 4 weeks to complete the task working every Wednesday and Friday morning. Fortunately during this time the weather was mild and dry, only when the refurbishment was completed did the weather deteriorate. They are now planning another trip to Community RePaint Morpeth to collect mineral felt paint to help protect the roof of the summerhouse which has since developed a leak.

Joan went onto say ‘Robert Moore the project co-ordinator at our local project was extremely helpful and I would like to thank you for the opportunity to have access to paint through this scheme. It has proved invaluable.’

Block colour and irregular shapes in Birmingham

Leon loves to use household paint in his artwork, such as emulsions and glosses. With a passion for the environment it made sense for him to use paint that has been rescued from landfill by a local arts facility; SCARF Enterprises Ltd who run Community RePaint Black Country.

With permission from Birmingham City Council, one of Leon’s most recent projects involved painting a kick wall in a local park. His use of block colour and irregular shapes makes the artwork stand out and brighten up local community spaces.

Leon said ‘It’s great to able to use materials that have been saved from landfill and taking the environment into consideration is an important part of my work. I had a lot of fun carrying out this project and gained a lot of respect form the locals, young and old.’

We look forward to seeing more of Leon’s work and hope he’ll continue to use Community RePaint where he can. To find out more visit: http://ergmode.carbonmade.com/

Four seasons mural at Lido Park

250 litres of paint donated by Community RePaint Worcester have been used by youngsters in Droitwich to transform a graffiti-covered wall at a local park. A large section of the wall in Lido Park has been painted with a mural depicting the Four Seasons.

Funded through Wychavon District Council and West Mercia Police, the project also had the backing of a local resident who owns part of the wall and separates her garden from the park.

Graffiti has been a long-standing issue on this particular wall and it is hoped that by bringing together so many different organisations and including local people in the design and painting of the mural that graffiti will now be prevented.

The event organised by PLANET, an organisation that encourages people to make a positive impact on their local environment, was a great success and showed how different organisations can come together to make a big difference.

PLANET have used the Worcestershire Resource Exchange (who run Community RePaint Worcester) previously for arts and crafts materials. Jo de Burgh, one of the founding members of PLANET said “If it wasn’t for organisations like the Worcester Resource Exchange and the paint they provide the project in the park would not have been possible. It great to know we have supported a local charity and used a valuable material that otherwise would have ended up in landfill.”

Community RePaint offers support to Bristol Dementia Art Project

The art project aims to bring the benefits of art into the lives of those with dementia (and also to the lives of their carers).

Katie worked as part of a team of artists brought together by the Lighting Up project with clients at The Limes Centre (for people with dementia including Alzheimer’s) to design and paint a series of murals to brighten up a plain white wall and bring colour into a colourless area. It was important that clients came up with the design ideas and painted themselves to maximise their enjoyment and interaction.

Community RePaint (run by Resource Futures) provided much of the paint for the project and Joanne O’Neill (Manager of The Limes Centre) said ‘the clients who took part had, and have, a great sense of achievement from taking part in the mural project…..every day I will look at the mural think of you all – and especially the clients who took part.’

Tunnel transformed with paint for Waterways Action Squad

Based at the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port and funded by Bank America and V., one of the first projects tackled by the Squad was the nearby canal bridge under the M53 motorway. Covered in graffiti, dirty and dark, it was in desperate need of a repaint, especially as the family boat trips from the Museum would pass under the bridge and staff would often have to go out early and scrub off obscene tags.

Now, thanks to Community RePaint Wirral, the tunnel has been transformed with a five-panel mural designed by the volunteers and inspired by the exhibits in the National Waterways Museum. Since the volunteers finished painting, the graffiti has gone and the tunnel is a much brighter and nicer place to be. What’s more the Council, so impressed by their work, offered to paint a coat of anti-graffiti paint over the mural.

Hazel Mayow, Volunteer Leader at The Waterways Trust: “We only had a very small budget and everyone was eager to get started. By sourcing paint from our local Community RePaint scheme, we were able to use a whole variety of colours and so not compromise on the design or have to wait months for funding,“ In addition, “Diverting second-hand paint from landfill was a great way for us to reinforce the environmental message of this project.”