Categories: News

Staff and volunteers from Community RePaint Loughborough have been collecting paint that would otherwise have gone for disposal and redistributed it to individuals, charities and community groups at affordable prices to help brighten homes and community spaces.

The Exaireo Reuse Project, part of Exaireo Trust, who host the scheme, take unwanted furniture and electrical goods and, after any necessary upcycling, sell them or give them away to those in need in our local community. They provide work-based training to all their residents to help them to become economically independent in the future.

In the past 5 years the scheme has prevented more than 28,500 litres of paint from going to waste. The scheme collects usable, leftover householder paint from the Whetstone Recycling and Household Waste Site, as well as accepting paint from businesses, retailers and paint manufacturers in the local area.

If you are a resident within Leicestershire and you have leftover paint from your home, you can use Whetstone Recycling and Household Waste Site to pass your paint on to Community RePaint Loughborough. If you are a trader, manufacturer or retailer with leftover paint you can contact the scheme to find out how they can help you.

If you need paint to redecorate your home, or if you are a charity or community group in need of paint for a project, get in touch with Community RePaint Loughborough to find out more 01509 767930 / reuse@exaireo.org, or visit them during their opening hours to purchase paint.

They are based at Unit 4, Weldon Road, Loughborough, L11 5RN and are open Tuesday – Friday 9:30am to 4pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm.

Community RePaint Glasgow, run by Emmaus Glasgow, opened their doors towards the end of September 2022. Local residents, community groups and charities can purchase paint from the scheme, which currently stocks interior emulsion and furniture chalk paint from our ReColour range of remanufactured paint. This paint is available at affordable prices – perfect for those in the area looking to redecorate without breaking the bank.

The new Glasgow scheme is hosted in Emmaus Glasgow’s charity shop on Ellesmere Street in Hamiltonhill and is part of the UK-wide Community RePaint network. They also stock a smaller quantity of ReColour remanufactured paint in a second charity shop, located on Dumbarton Road in Partick.

Our Community RePaint Glasgow scheme operates alongside their other long-running work in the local area, hosting a residential community of 27 formerly homeless men and women (“companions”) and a recycling/reuse business from their two retail charity shops.

Community RePaint is an award-winning paint reuse network, sponsored by Dulux, that provides a solution to the problem of over 50 million litres of paint being wasted in the UK each year. The network’s schemes collect, process and redistribute paint at an affordable cost to benefit individuals, families, communities and charities in need In 2021 alone, the schemes in the network collected over 387,000 litres of paint from individuals, retailers, decorators and manufacturers, and redistributed over 255,000 litres of paint to individuals, families, community groups and charities, adding colour to the lives of over 176,000 people.

Community RePaint Glasgow can be found at 101 Ellesmere Road, Hamiltonhill and is open Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm. If you are an individual, community group or charity in need of paint, or if you are a business with leftover paint, you can contact them by email (gushamilton@emmausglasgow.org.uk) for more details.

Find all details of our Community RePaint Glasgow scheme here.

The charity is home for up to 20 people, who are given opportunities to develop skills and give back to the community by participating in several different social enterprises at its base off Fletcher Street in Bolton.

Customers can choose ReColour paint as one of the finishes for orders of made to measure furniture or for upcycling projects carried out at Emmaus Bolton’s workshops. ReColour is also available directly from the shelves of the Drill Hall store for exterior and interior DIY projects. Tradespeople can ask about painting and decorating packs, available for painters and decorators for large scale projects.

Using innovative technology, Community RePaint is able to take leftover paints, filter, treat and blend them to create a range of high-quality emulsions, masonry and chalk furniture paint in large quantities of affordable paint. Read more here on how remanufactured paint is made within the network.

Director of Emmaus Bolton, Tony Stephenson, said: “Buying ReColour recycled paint from Emmaus Bolton not only saves customers money, it also saves the local environment because you’re buying high quality paint remanufactured from what otherwise might go to waste.

“Every purchase helps this homelessness charity provide rooms, meals, pay the bills and other costs needed to help people supported by Emmaus. ReColour is associated with many community projects across the UK and provides brighter futures for people living here. By ordering furniture and upcycling from us with this finish, you’re helping develop people’s skills, people’s confidence and CVs for when people living here are ready to take their next steps.”

Read Jacob’s story here.

Please visit https://emmaus.org.uk/bolton/ for more information about our location and opening hours. Check Emmaus Bolton’s social media for the results of projects using ReColour on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To commission bespoke furniture or upcycling, please speak to staff in store or call 01204 398056.

Want to stock ReColour at your organisation?

We have a number of community organisations and charity shops who stock ReColour paint across the United Kingdom. Why not join the movement and generate more income through sales, and give your customers access to high-quality, affordable paint that is friendly to the planet? Benefits include:

• Create an additional income stream at your shops
• Provide good quality, affordable paint for your customers
• Give your customers the option to choose products with a low environmental impact
• Support our work in community reuse
• Improve your green credentials

 

If you would like to find out more and to place an order, please contact our Network Manager, Martin Pearse on 0117 914 3450 or martin.pearse@resourcefutures.co.uk

So Olivia, what do you do at Scrapstore Resource Centre Swindon and why did you become a Community RePaint scheme?

Scrapstore Resource Centre Swindon is a community resource centre that redistributes materials and items within the local community for reuse that would otherwise be disposed of as waste.

We joined the Community RePaint network as it seemed like a great initiative to get involved with and links directly with our reuse ethos. As a Community RePaint scheme, we can prevent leftover paint from going to waste while directly benefiting our local community. Through Community RePaint we can help individuals, families, community organisations and charities on low income or in need of help to purchase paint at an affordable price, to brighten their homes.

Can you tell us what your typical working day is like and possibly share your top tip for managing your Community RePaint scheme?

During a typical day at Community RePaint Swindon, we have members of the general public visit our store to view our paint selection. We assist our customers by opening up any tins of paint our customers are interested in, to show them that the colour within the tin matches what is painted onto the lid. The paint can then be purchased by the customers at affordable prices.

When we receive paint donations from businesses, traders and decorators, a member of staff and a volunteer work together to process the paint prior to placing it on the shelves on the shop floor. This process includes opening up each tin of paint to check it’s quality and then painting each lid with paint from its tin. Painting the lids of the paint tins makes it really easy for customers to identify the paint they need and be reassured that the colour they’re after is what’s in the tin. Once the tin lids have dried, a disclaimer label is popped onto each paint container and these processed tins are then added to the shelves in the shop.

I’ve got two top tips for managing a Community RePaint scheme:

1. Make sure there is one member of staff who oversees the Community RePaint project on a long-term basis. Then have volunteers work with that member of staff to run the project on a day-to-day basis.
2. Pop the donation date onto each incoming tin of paint to your scheme. It takes a couple of seconds to add the date to each tin and this saves you a lot of hard work in the long run! It’s an easy way to always know how long each tin of paint has been on your shelves (helps with stock rotation!), and the handy trick enables you to work out what paint is selling well and what isn’t, plus what paint needs to be disposed of.

 

What have been Community RePaint Swindon’s biggest achievements thus far?

We’ve been a part of the Community RePaint network since 1999 and over the years we’ve developed and grown as a scheme. Since we first opened, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of paint donations we receive from different supplies, such as Dulux Decorator Centres and Crown paints. This has meant each year we’re able to help more and more people within the local community.

Do you have any stories from the community you’d like to share?

Over the years we have been involved in lots of different local paint related projects. At the moment, we are involved in the first year of the Swindon Paint Fest, taking place 15-16th October, and have donated over 100 litres of paint towards this project.

It’s been brilliant to be able to donate this paint towards the mural project as it helps the town to look better, positively impacting everyone in the local community. It also helps us to move on paint stock and raises awareness of our Community RePaint scheme.

Do you have any painting tips that you can share with us?

It’s so important to make sure you fully prep for your painting project. Fill in any cracks, sand down any woodwork and remove dust from surfaces prior to painting. This will help you save time in the long run.

What’s next for Community RePaint Swindon?

We’ve been fundraising for years to buy a bigger building so we can increase the size of our Community RePaint scheme and we hope to find a new space within the next 18 months.

At the moment we only have the space to receive donations from businesses, trade and decorators. We hope once we have a larger premises that we can develop and expand the Community RePaint project further. This would enable us to collect paint donated by householders from local Household Waste Recycling Centres and have additional paint on our shelves to benefit more people within the local community.

For more information about Community RePaint Swindon, click here to view their scheme page. 

Staff and volunteers from Community RePaint Sandwell & Soho have been collecting paint that would otherwise have gone for disposal and redistributed it to individuals, charities and community groups at affordable prices to help brighten homes and community spaces.

Originally operating out of a small shipping container in 2002, the scheme has grown and now has a large premises where they can accept large quantities of paint and customers can browse the store for paint they need for their project. In the past 10 years alone the scheme has prevented more than 45,000 litres of paint from going to waste.

This has included projects such as The CRICK Project, a community led project based in the heart of Handsworth, which created a sustainable community garden to the improve the health and well-being of the local people and wider community of Birmingham, using leftover paint.

Before and after photos from The Crick Project

 

Since 2011, Law, Leisure and Learning have also run a hostel for homeless ex-offenders. Volunteers from Marks and Spencer’s ‘Making Every Moment Special’ programme, in partnership with Neighbourly, refreshed the hostel in 2018. Using paint that is collected at their Community RePaint scheme, the team spent the day painting the dining hall, living area and the hallways, making the hostel a nice place to live and spend time.

Paint volunteer from M&S painting the Law, Leisure and Learning hostel

 

Recently, the scheme has begun to upcycle old furniture using chalk paint that has been donated to the scheme. Volunteers do the majority of the upcycling, learning new skills and broadening their knowledge of furniture and painting work. The scheme then sells the upcycled furniture to generate income that is put back into the Community RePaint scheme.

“The aim of celebrating our birthday is not only to mark this important milestone, but also to raise awareness of the scheme locally so more people can benefit,” said scheme manager Pauline Wright. “Community RePaint Sandwell and Soho offers a simple, local solution to the problem of waste paint. By reusing leftover paint in our community, we can bring a splash of colour to the lives of those who need it the most and help to protect the planet by preventing perfectly good paint from being disposed of.”

The Community RePaint network manager, Martin Pearse, reflected “Community RePaint Sandwell and Soho have done a fantastic job over the last 20 years. The celebrations provide a great opportunity to recognise all the hard work that has gone into making the scheme such a success and to reflect on all their achievements which has brightened community spaces and homes over the years. We are excited to continue supporting the scheme and look forward to seeing what they accomplish in years to come.”

Staff and volunteers at Community RePaint Sandwell and Soho

 

If you need paint to redecorate your home, or if you are a charity or community group in need of paint for a project, contact Community RePaint Sandwell and Soho to find out more and book a time to visit by calling 0121 551 5115 or emailing lawleisure@hotmail.co.uk. They are based at 2-10 Queens Head Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, West Midlands, B21 0QG.

If you are a trader, manufacturer or retailer with leftover paint you can, contact the scheme to find out how they can help you. They unfortunately cannot accept open tins from householders. Residents can take leftover paint for reuse at five recycling centres in the area (Sutton Coldfield HRC, Castle Bromwich HRC, Kings Norton HRC, Perry Barr HRC, Tyseley HRC)

Paint area at Community RePaint Sandwell and Soho

Staff and volunteers from Community RePaint North Allerdale have been collecting paint that would otherwise have gone for disposal and redistributed it to individuals, charities and community groups at affordable prices to help brighten homes and community spaces.

Although a small scheme in a rural part of the country, in the past 10 years alone the scheme has prevented more than 35,000 litres of paint from going to waste. This has brightened the lives of over 43,000 lives in North Allerdale and surrounding communities.

Community RePaint North Allerdale is part of the UK wide Community RePaint network, a network of paint reuse schemes working to solve the issue of the estimated 50 million litres of paint that go to waste in the UK each year. In 2021, the schemes in the network collected 387,748 litres of paint from individuals, retailers, decorators and manufacturers, and redistributed 255,785 litres of paint to individuals, families, community groups and charities, adding colour to the lives of over 176,000 people.

“The aim of celebrating our birthday is not only to mark this important milestone, but also to raise awareness of the scheme locally so more people can benefit,” said scheme owners Kath and Dennis Graham. “Community RePaint North Allerdale offers a simple, local solution to the problem of waste paint. By reusing leftover paint in our community, we can bring a splash of colour to the lives of those who need it the most and help to protect the planet by preventing perfectly good paint from being disposed of.”

The Community RePaint network manager, Martin Pearse, reflected “Community RePaint North Allerdale have done a fantastic job over the last 20 years. The celebrations provide a great opportunity to recognise all the hard work that has gone into making the scheme such a success and to reflect on all their achievements which has brightened community spaces and homes over the years. We are excited to continue supporting the scheme and look forward to seeing what they accomplish in years to come.”

If you need paint to redecorate your home, or if you are a charity or community group in need of paint for a project, call Community RePaint North Allerdale to find out more 07504 929313, or visit them during their opening hours to purchase paint. They are based at Old Slaughter House, Water Street, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 9AR. They are open Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 8.30am – 12 noon.

If you are a trader, manufacturer or retailer with leftover paint you can contact the scheme to find out how they can help you.

 

Kim, tell us a bit about Forest Recycling Project (FRP), and why you became a Community RePaint scheme?

At Forest Recycling Project (FRP) we work to promote a greener, more inclusive Waltham Forest in East London. Our main operational area is reclaiming, repurposing and affordably reselling leftover materials that would otherwise fill and pollute local landfill sites or go to incineration. The three products we recycle are scaffolding wood, fabrics, and of course, paint. We believe that social and environmental challenges go hand in hand and volunteering is at the heart of all our activities.

We joined the Community RePaint Network back in 1998 as it fit in with our company ethos, and has environmental and communities benefits. Reclaiming paint enables local residents and community groups to improve their living and working space in a cost effective way, promoting a higher sense of well-being and richer engagement with the space. We are proud to be a member of the Community RePaint Network.

Watch the video below to see and hear more about FRP and Community RePaint East London.

Can you tell us what your typical working day is like and possibly share your top tip for managing your Community RePaint scheme?

A typical day can be very varied depending on what our focus is. We are a team of four on the retail side, plus two very valuable volunteers, David and Keith.

The main thing I walk away thinking after each shift is that I am amazed of the commitment of everyone in the team at Community RePaint East London. If you come by our warehouse you will meet Les, our driver, who goes out and sources the majority of our paint, ensuring that he saves as much as he can from incineration.

Clive is an former painter and decorator who has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to decorating, from who we all pinch different tips and tricks from. At our shop you’ll meet Em who will school you in all the different initiatives that FRP is involved in, whether it be our tool library based in Walthamstow, or our cashless events in partnership with Hackney council.

What have been Community RePaint East London’s biggest achievements thus far?

Community RePaint East London has been around for many many years, and we all have our own personal favorite achievements. For me, being a reuse charity that also works at providing free volunteering opportunities has to be the small daily impacts that makes me feel that we achieve big things. Whether it be providing paint for someone that would struggle otherwise to find the budget to decorate, or having our volunteers come in everyday and enjoy their time with us are all outcomes that give me such pride that I work for an organisation that provides this in my local community.

Between 2011 and 2021, we collected 477,832 litres of leftover paint, preventing it from going to waste. We managed to redistribute 371,864 litres, helping individuals, families, charities and groups brighten their spaces and their lives.

Community RePaint East London’s Walthamstow site

 

Do you have any stories from the community you’d like to share?

As we have been a Community RePaint for 24 years, we have lots of great stories to tell. In 2016, we donated 300 litres of paint to Boomtown Festival which was used on various structures at the festival. In 2015, we launched the Colour the Capital project, which aimed to create nine street art murals across three East London boroughs. In the run up to London 2012 Olympic games, a set of Olympic-themed murals are brightening up Hackney’s Kingsmead neighbourhood and helping to reduce antisocial behaviour at the same time.

In 2020, renowned artist Camille Walala teamed up with local artists to transform Leytonstone’s high street, using paint from Community RePaint East London. The local community was at the heart of this project, with the artist inviting Londoners to help shape the final design by voting for their favourite colour scheme.

Walala Parade, Leyton, transformed with paint from Community RePaint East London

Art mural from Colour the Capital project

 

Do you have any painting tips that you can share with us?

The best tip I can give will always be one of the simpler ones – it’s all about the prep. A simple cleaning of the wall with sugar soap and filling any cracks or holes will always help you achieve a better finish to the final painted wall.

Our team member Clive is a former painter and decorator, and is here to give his professional opinion and help customers get the best results.

What’s next for Community RePaint East London?

Many people purchase from us whether it be for environmental choices, budget restraints or because we truly are their local paint shop. We want to continue and grow this, along with our volunteering base. We would love to be top of mind for all local residents when it comes to buying paint. That is where being part of the Community RePaint Network can be such an asset to us, to support us and achieve this goal.

Left: Kim O’Donovan, Retail and Operations Manager at Community RePaint East London. Right: Team at Community RePaint East London

 

More information about Community RePaint London:

You can purchase paint at two sites in East London.

The Paint Place (Forest Recycling Project), 2c Bakers Avenue (off Hoe Street, near Bakers Arms), Walthamstow, London, E17 9AW (Open: Friday: 10am – 4.30pm, Saturday: 10am – 2pm)

Forest Recycling Project, 7 The Sidings, Hainault Drive, Leytonstone, London, E11 1HD (Open: Wednesday & Thursday 10am – 4.30pm)

Get in touch direct: info@frpuk.org

The paint you drop off is collected by Community RePaint Wirral, who pass on the usable paint onto the community, or remanufacture it into ReColour paint.

The following three recycling centres accept paint for reuse:

• Kirkless Household Recycling Centre
• Slag Lane Household Recycling Centre
• Chanters Household Recycling Centre

 

Please note, if you are not a member of this local authority you will not be eligible to access the site. a driving licence is required for proof of Wigan Borough residency. More details about recycling centre access and restrictions can be found here.

Unfortunately, as this scheme is run by the local authority they are unable to work with traders, retailers or manufacturers. If you are a trader, retailer, manufacturer or other business with leftover paint you can provide details here and we will look at other schemes in your area who will be able to work with you.

Opening hours (inc. Bank Holidays):

Summer – everyday, 8am to 7:45pm (from last Sunday in March)

Winter – everyday, 9am to 5:45pm (from last Sunday in October)

Site closed: Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and CCTV is in place across all sites to monitor vehicle visits.

Community RePaint Lowestoft was chosen as one of four businesses to support this year by Farrans Construction. When asked how they could help out the scheme, the scheme asked Farrans Construction to add a splash of colour to the outside of the scheme building.

Ahead of painting, the team from Farrans Construction cleaned the outside with a huge pressure washer, to wash away any dirt before painting.

As a Community RePaint scheme, there was lots of leftover paint ready to be used to brighten up the building. Bright colours were used to really give the building a bold statement and reflect all the positive work the scheme and host organisation Re-Utilise does. Business owner and Community RePaint scheme manager Carol Dean said “the results exceeded my expectations”.

Community RePaint Lowestoft joined the network in 2020 was a finalist in the Lowestoft & Waveney Gala Business Awards, for their incredible work throughout the COVID pandemic. Read the article about that here.

The scheme collects usable, leftover paint from local retailers, businesses and paint manufacturers. The paint is available to individuals and groups and individuals at an affordable price. To pick up paint for your project, you simply need to pop in and visit them 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.

All details on Community RePaint Lowestoft can be found here.

The Ware Recycling Centre and the Waterdale Recylcing Centre have joined the network to prevent paint from going to waste in the Hertfordshire area.

Drop off leftover paint

If you are a resident, you can drop off paint at the recycling centre (please ask a member of staff) and do not drop off paint at the reuse shop. It will be sorted and liquid paint in a tin that is in good condition, in its original container, and at least half full will be put out in the reuse shop. Hazardous paint (check the symbols on the tin) and spray paint is not accepted for the Community Repaint Scheme at present.

Collect paint for your home or project

Residents and community groups can get free paint from this scheme, to be collected from the Reuse Shop. No tins are to be opened on site and the disclaimer must be read and community repaint scheme log signed to note how much paint has been taken – the scheme needs to know how much paint is being reused.

Please note, if you are not a member of this local authority you will not be eligible to access the site. If there is no drop-off point in your local authority area you will need to contact them for guidance on what to do with your leftover paint.

Unfortunately, as this scheme is run by the local authority they are unable to work with traders, retailers or manufacturers. If you are a trader, retailer, manufacturer or other business with leftover paint you can provide details here and we will look at other schemes in your area who will be able to work with you.