Every day we're reading more news about a world in crisis. The climate change crisis, the pandemic. The downturn in the economy is leading to struggle and strife across the third sector and the education system.
Small charities in particular are hit hard. They were already struggling after years of austerity measures, followed by Brexit and now the pandemic. At a time when we need them the most, they're at risk of collapsing under the strain.
Working with schools we're hearing the daily struggle they're facing. Funding has been cut by up to 40% for many, one school explained that they're no longer allowed to buy stationery.
The only way to effect real change is to have a plan and take action.
The University of Westminster did that in April 2019. With an extensive program of refurbishment underway they were committed to achieving the highest levels of sustainability.
Jordan Lamb, Sustainability Manager at Westminster, decided to work with Reyooz in an effort to minimise waste.
“We knew that we would be undertaking a lot of refurbishment work across the campus and were looking for a more sustainable approach. As we’re based in central London, storage in our buildings is pretty much non-existent. That means furniture that was being replaced as part of the refurbishment programme would end up in an incinerator."
Jordan Lamb, University of Westminster
Westminster needed support from a service specifically designed to eliminate waste from office clearances and refurbishments.
We looked at various alternative services and Reyooz was by far the best option, across a number of criteria. Talking to our project team we realised we needed a service that could cope with tight timeless, changing schedules and a flexible approach and that’s what we’ve found with Reyooz
Jordan Lamb, University of Westminster
The program covered multiple buildings, 101 New Cavendish Street being home to over 500 employees in a shared building with restricted access.
Reyooz have the project management skills to oversee complex jobs - one building could only be cleared on weekends and evenings and they managed to complete the project on time and on budget
Jordan Lamb, University of Westminster
Working with Westminster provided the opportunity to demonstrate that reuse doesn't stop at furniture and equipment, mountains of stationery was boxed up and distributed to schools and charities across London.
Often during a refurbishment you’re having to move people around, inconveniencing them. Being able to show staff that their old desk and chair was being used by a charity, a school or a local community group made a massive difference
Jordan Lamb, University of Westminster
The impact that Westminster has had not just on the environment but the community is inspiring. Over £250,000 of goods have been given to charities, schools and small businesses.
Doctors in East London fitted out an entire emergency centre tackling Covid-19 with furniture and equipment from Westminster.
We didn't believe this would actually happen until the desks and cabinets started arriving on trucks and were being fitted into the consultation rooms.
Dr. S, Romford.
The ETC group who deliver education support services and run Coding Academy's were able to open two completely new centres.
If we didn’t have access to great office furniture from Reyooz, I am not sure if we would have been able to open our most recent training centre in Harrow.
Casey Farquharson, ETC Founder
The materials datasets that construction companies and architects use to estimate the environmental impact of their buildings is used to estimate the impact of reusing goods. At least 225,000kg of embodied carbon has been saved thanks to Westminster, or the equivalent of burning 78 tonnes of coal.
The detailed reporting that we get with Reyooz is really powerful too. As a member of the sustainability team, the infographics Reyooz provide makes my job so much easier- they show the difference reuse makes in a clear and simple way that makes sense to everyone
Jordan Lamb, University of Westminster
The University of Westminster has had a massive impact on both the environment and the community, without compromising on budget or efficiency in operations.
Another key factor is cost and Reyooz represent great value for money. We quickly worked out that reusing with Reyooz was cheaper than disposing of items with a traditional waste firm
Jordan Lamb, University of Westminster
There is no such thing as waste, only wasted resources. Finding new homes for office furniture and equipment that organisations no longer need means everybody wins.
Are you ready to transform your organisations impact on the world, support great causes and tackle climate change?
