Categories: Case Studies

Arting UK, works to bring the joy of art to as many people as possible, through educational, therapeutic and enjoyable art sessions, suitable for all ages and abilities.

For the project, Arting UK and Cosmo Community CIC planned a series of six sessions in which participants would come together and learn and develop their creative skills. This included designing and painting a mural on the side of a shipping container, situated on an allotment in Hull City Centre.

The project was planned to give the participants access to fresh air, social interaction, nature and excess fresh produce, as well as to develop their art skills and support the participants with signposting and access to other services.

A range of participants attended the sessions, most of whom were Eastern European refugees, with a majority from Ukraine. The group ranged in age and artistic ability but worked together to draw and paint colourful fruit, vegetables and flowers as part of the mural. Transforming a once dull shipping container into a gorgeous, nature themed mural that blended in beautifully with the surrounding allotments.

For the project Arting UK used metal paint and exterior gloss paint, in a range of colours, picked up from Community RePaint Hull & Humber.

Community RePaint Hull & Humber, run by Groundwork Hull, is part of the Community RePaint Network, a UK-wide paint reuse network sponsored by Dulux.

The scheme collects leftover paint, passed on for reuse by local retailers, businesses and traders. This paint is sorted, processed and displayed at the scheme, available for local individuals, families and community groups/organisations to purchase from £2 per litre. Read more about Community RePaint Hull & Humber in their Meet the Scheme interview here. 

When asked about their experience purchasing paint from Community RePaint Hull & Humber, Alison let us know:

“The team at Community RePaint Hull & Humber were very helpful, they assisted us with advice and paint choices. We managed to paint the containers for a good price which meant that we only had to pass the low cost onto the charity.”

You can find out more about the work of Arting UK on their website, Instagram page, Facebook page and/or Twitter page here.

Community RePaint has over 65 schemes across the country, providing paint starting from £2 a litre. If you need paint for your home, community project, or a mural like this one, find your nearest scheme here.

The opportunity arose for Shahid Islam when his neighbour offered him wood from his roof, destined for disposal, that had been removed from his home while building an attic. Using old concrete flags, Shahid created a base for his project and got to work transforming the reclaimed wood into a structurally sound frame, fit for his vision of an upcycled greenhouse.

Once the structure had been completed and a roof securely fitted, Shahid visited Community RePaint Bradford to pick up affordable wood preservative and paint for his project.

Community RePaint Bradford is part of the Community RePaint Network, a UK-wide paint reuse network sponsored by Dulux.

The scheme collects reusable paint from eight local Household Waste Recycling Centres, as well as leftover paint from local retailers, businesses and traders. This paint is sorted, processed and displayed at the scheme, available for local individuals, families and community groups/organisations to purchase from £1.80 per litre. Read more about Community RePaint Bradford in their Meet the Scheme interview here. 

     The team at Community RePaint Bradford

When asked about his experience visiting Community RePaint Bradford, Shahid let us know:

“I absolutely loved the Community RePaint scheme from the moment I walked in. The staff and volunteers were very friendly and went out of their way to help me find the right paints and preservatives. We even had a great chat about some of the plans I had which they encouraged.

“I think it is crucial we have projects like Community RePaint. It helps people save money, it helps the planet and it brings people together for a good cause.”

Once paint and preservatives had been collected, Shahid contacted a local window manufacturer to find windows and a door for his greenhouse. The manufacturer provided Shahid with windows (reclaimed from refits) spared from the skip. Shahid chose carefully to ensure quality and that the differing sized windows could be jigsawed together to fit the greenhouse’s structure.

Before fitting all 21 windows, Shahid treated the greenhouse’s wooden frame with the wood preservative purchased from Community RePaint Bradford. Once the windows were secured, Shahid added colour to the frames with the paint sourced, also, from our Bradford scheme. Finally the reclaimed door was installed, resulting in the greenhouse becoming fully functional!

Over the warm summer months, this upcycled greenhouse, made nearly completely from reclaimed materials (other than the roofing sheets, silicone and screws), provided Shahid a magnificent space to grow his own tomatoes, chillies, aubergines and cucumbers.

Shahid let us know:

“This felt like a really rewarding project, especially when I consider all the materials that were saved from going to landfill, and now not only looks amazing but also serves a purpose. Costs were minimal and now I have a greenhouse full of great plants. I have a couple of deck chairs in there and I can sit in there and relax.”

For more information about Shahid’s project, click here to view his Twitter thread about the project. All greenhouse photographs shared in this article were taken and provided by Shahid Islam.

Are you inspired to take on a similar style project, or simply need affordable paint for a home DIY or community-led decorating/art initiative? Click here to search for your nearby Community RePaint scheme.

Community RePaint is a UK-wide paint reuse network, comprising over 65 schemes across the country that collect leftover paint from businesses, trade and Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and redistribute it to individuals, families and community groups/organisations at affordable prices. The paint helps local communities to brighten their spaces while preventing leftover paint from going to waste.

Whether you are a householder or a business, we’re here to help you pass on your leftover (perhaps forgotten about) paint for reuse in your local community.

Community RePaint schemes accept all brands of still usable paint, and the paint must be in its original container, non-hazardous and over half full. The paint containers and paint within must both be in good condition and must not have gone off. A quick smell of your paint will indicate whether your paint has gone ‘off’ as this often has a distinctive smell of rotten eggs.

To donate your paint as a householder

Simply use our online householder drop-off point finder to find out if you have a Community RePaint drop-off point nearby. These are located at local authority-run Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) that are signed up to the Community RePaint Network. Click here to find out if there is a drop-off point in your area.

Once dropped off at a dedicated HWRC drop-off point, your leftover paint will either be:

• Sorted by site staff, and made available on the site for residents and community groups in the local area.
• OR collected by a nearby Community RePaint scheme, hosted by a community organisation, who sort, process and redistribute the paint at affordable prices from their scheme premises.

If your nearby Community RePaint drop-off point is in a different local authority area to the one you reside in, it is likely you will not be permitted access to the site. This is a rule set by the local authorities and not us. To prevent being turned away from a site, once you’ve found your nearby drop-off point, get in touch with the local authority or check out their website to find out if you need to be a resident of that area to access the HWRC.

We’re always working hard to expand the network, but unfortunately don’t yet have drop-off points in all parts of the UK. If there isn’t one in your area, help us grow the network by letting your local authority know you’d like to be able to pass your paint on for reuse. Click here to download our template letter.

In the meantime, to prevent your leftover paint from going to waste, we’d recommend reaching out to local societies, community groups and/or charities to see if they could benefit from your leftover paint. Alternatively, you could consider advertising your leftover paint on Gumtree, Freegle or Freecycle.

To donate your paint as a retailer/manufacturer/business/trader:

1. Take a look at our ‘Solutions for leftover trade paint’ webpage here to read about the full criteria of types of paint our schemes can and can’t accept.

2. Following this complete our online form to let us know the details of your leftover trade paint (think paint types, volume of paint, and quantity of full and part-full tins).

3. The central Community RePaint team will then work to identify your nearest suitable scheme. Initially we will liaise with the scheme on your behalf and pass across the details of your paint to them.

4. The scheme will then contact you to organise collecting/arranging receipt of the paint and to discuss any other details, including whether they will be requesting a service charge for accepting your leftover paint. The service charge covers collection and operational costs and will vary between schemes. Any service charge requested will be considerably less than the cost of trade waste disposal.

Want to join the network and reuse paint at your organisation? Find out how you can get involved and help prevent paint from going to waste here.

The Peace Garden, funded through events organised by Renhold Primary School’s ‘Friends of Renhold’ Parent, Teacher and Friends Association (PTFA), was identified by the school as a much-needed space for their pupils to be able to utilise whilst at school.

The aim of the Peace Garden, set to enhance the space used as a Forest School and Outdoor Learning Area within the school grounds, was to be a calm and peaceful place for the students of Renhold Primary School to Reflect, Remember and Pray. The idea being that the space will assist the children’s mental health and wellbeing, while also acting as a place for the children to connect with nature.

As part of the project, the PTFA approached Community RePaint Northampton, run by Happy to Help CIC, a social enterprise subsidiary of Northampton Partnership Homes through their Paint Shop at Kings Heath, to pick up high-quality, affordable paint for their Peace Garden project.

The paint collected was used to brighten up the garden, with a range of bold, brightly coloured paints applied to the garden’s shed, fencing, arches, benches, cross planter plus a very cute hedgehog house and tyres savvily upcycled into planters.

This September, Renhold Primary School proudly unveiled their completed Peace Garden through a grand opening and we think it looks amazing – a very special space that we imagine the school’s students will love!

Community RePaint Northampton, hosted by Happy to Help CIC, joined the Community RePaint network in 2020. Their aim is to improve the health, wellbeing, economy, environment and availability of opportunities for the benefit of NPH residents and their communities. Read our recent Northampton Meet the Scheme article here.

The scheme collects usable, leftover paint from local retailers, businesses and paint manufacturers, which is then available to local individuals and community groups to purchase at an affordable price of £1-£2 per litre.

To pick up paint for your project, you simply need to pop in and visit them at the Paint Shop, Kings Heath, during their opening hours. We would recommend calling in advance of making long journeys to the scheme as the amount of paint available will fluctuate throughout the year.

For further details about Community RePaint Northampton, click here.

The Community RePaint Network comprises over 65 schemes across the country, providing affordable leftover paint to individuals, families and community groups/organisations. If you need paint for your home improvement or community project, find your nearest scheme here.

Think paint tins, not pumpkins!

Did you know 14.5 million pumpkins go to waste in the UK each Halloween? This year, think paint tins not pumpkins, do some Halloween DIY and repurpose and upcycle empty paint tins into hauntingly delightful lanterns and decorations! You can then reuse these each year going forward.

📷 Jolly Mom / 📷 Tonya Staab

Click here for a simple step-by-step Halloween DIY guide by Jolly Mom all to do with how to upcycle spooky paint tins yourself.

📷 Pinterest /📷 Chicken Scratch NY

Some of our schemes are run by Scrapstores, and may have empty tins, along with leftover paint. You may also be able to pick up additional materials and fabrics to help create your perplexing Halloween DIY pieces!

Click here to find your nearby Community RePaint scheme, and check out the additional information on their scheme page to find out what else the host organisation does.

Level up the traditional pumpkin carve

If you’d rather opt for an alternative approach to a a more traditional Halloween activity then pick up a pumpkin, hollow out the inside and paint your work of art onto the pumpkin’s skin! Click here for some painted pumpk-inspiration.

📷 Drew Hays / 📷 Brian Wegman

As this devilish creation only requires a small quantity of paint, pick up part-full tins of paint from £1 per litre from your nearby Community RePaint scheme! Click here to find your local Community RePaint scheme.

If you decide to go down this creative route, be sure to eat your pumpkin’s innards! Why not check out Hubbub’s #EatYourPumpkin campaign to cook up a festive feast to snack on while creating your mysterious masterpiece! Be spookily savvy and prevent pumpkins and paint from going to waste.

Mysterious murals 

Take your Halloween-themed decorations up a notch this year and simmer up a supernatural-themed mural! Perfect as a festive feature wall in a bedroom or why not give the walls of your garden shed or fence an arty revamp!

Click here to search for your nearby Community RePaint scheme to pick up high-quality, affordable paint for your hair-raising project, from only £1 per litre.

 📷 Pieter Van De Sande / 📷 Actionvance

Enjoy your Halloween celebrations this year and share with us photos of your festive-themed decorations by emailing repaint@resourcefutures.co.uk or by tagging us on our socials!

Drumroll please… is eggshell paint really made from eggshells? 

… The answer is no! Eggshell paint refers to the sheen/shine level of the surface-finish of this paint type and is so named because of its similar texture and shine/sheen to a typical eggshell. We can confirm that no actual eggshells are used during the manufacturing process of this paint.

The texture of eggshell paint, combined with its slight shine helps to scatter light that hits surfaces coated in this paint, hiding surface imperfections and adding colour depth, in a similar way to paint with higher-gloss finishes but without the gloss-like shine.

So what is paint (including eggshell) really made of? 

Paints come in a range of types with different finishes, from high-gloss and silk to matt. Despite the vast range of paints available, the majority of paint comprises four key components, in varying quantities. These are pigments, resins, additives and solvents:

1. Pigments give paint its colour. Typically, titanium dioxide is used as the basic white pigment in paint, but depending on the colour of the paint, other pigments will be added to give the paint its colour, for example, iron oxide or metallic salts.
2. Resins – either natural (for example linseed or soybean oil) or synthetic (for example acrylics or epoxies) – hold all the pigments together in the paint and help it dry.
3. Additives (for example calcium carbonate) act as fillers and can sometimes also act as anti-fungicidal agents.
4. Solvents or water-based are either chemical-based (e.g. alcohols, acetone) or water-based liquids within the paint that make it easier to apply the paint to a surface.

For more information and to find out how paint is made, click here to view our blog post ‘How is paint made?’.

Where can you use eggshell paint?

It’s a versatile paint that can be used on walls and ceilings, woodwork (such as doors, skirting boards etc.), radiators and metal – a great alternative to emulsion or gloss with many benefits.

The additional resin within eggshell paint also makes it easier to clean as you can wipe down walls without damaging the finish or paint adhesion to the wall. This makes it an ideal candidate when choosing paint for walls in bathrooms or kitchens that can become grime hotspots. Egg shell paint also does not discolour like gloss paint does, so is a great alternative.

Where can I pick up affordable eggshell paint? 

Community RePaint schemes stock a wide range of high-quality, affordable paint in full and part-full tins. This paint may have been donated by local businesses and traders or collected from Community RePaint drop-off points for householders, located at Household Waste Recycling Centres. The types of paint our schemes will have fluctuate throughout the year as the available stock will depend upon what has recently been donated to the scheme. Types of paint you can expect to find on the shelves at our schemes include:

• Eggshell
• Emulsion
• Gloss & tile paint
• Undercoat
• Primer
• Masonry
• Floor
• Exterior
• Varnished & wood stains
• Satin paint

Click here to find your nearby scheme and give them a quick call prior to visiting to find out whether they have the paint you’re after in stock.