Reuse around the country....

In a bid to do things better, we took the unprecedented decision to leave the safety of Cornwall and head further afield to learn how other reuse projects across the country do it.

Trying to get 4 members of the team together at any one time for a 3 day trip was difficult enough....but so far its been hugely worthwhile and a great opportunity to see who does what.

We know that sometimes we could do things a whole lot better and so we decided to put that to the test with a visit yesterday to the Shropshire Furniture Scheme.  Lead by Jean Jarvis MBE and reigning Furniture Reuse Project of the Year, we thought this would be a good place to start.  Shropshire have certainly got some great ideas and the pick of the bunch was their innovative little cafe/book shop/furniture shop.

On to today and the team have been to see Bristol SOFA, a very established project who have been leading the way for years, whilst I attended an important FRN (Furniture Reuse Network) board meeting.  SOFA do some great work with local prisons and have established an excellent reworking facility that were keen to see.  We weren't disappointed and will be coming back with plenty of ideas for how we can improve our repair operations and maximise our reuse rates.

With a pint in hand, we can now reflect on what we've seen and the work we need to do....there's a lot to get on with and no doubt more ideas will come from our visit tomorrow to CFP Newbury!