The Re-use Centre

A few people have mentioned to me that at our local tip (somewhere I do not frequent, but my mum seems to go to on a weekly basis!), has recently opened up a re-use centre. The idea behind it is simply that people donate certain unwanted goods, and the staff there refurbish and recycle them, if need be, and make them available to buy. It’s a social enterprise, in partnership with the Jericho Foundation, as it’s staffed by disadvantaged people looking to get back into work.

Now, let me start off by telling you that it was considerably bigger than I’d imagined it would be! I thought it’d be this little hut with a few bits of bric-a-brac to browse, but it turns out I was wrong! This is it, with it’s convenient car park right outside it.

On the right, there were lots of outdoor toys, pushchairs, car seats, pet cages, then moving round to camping gear. There was a little area in the middle devoted just to golf (the husband spent a fair bit of time in there…!), and then that area that you see to the left of the photo and spreading out beyond is a marquee full of furniture, all stacked up, begging us to re-use it!

We then explored inside, and there’s so much more! Toys, books, jewellery, ornaments, doors, bike helmets, tools, vinyl records, CDs. DVDs, and I don’t just mean 1-2 of the above items, I mean sections full of them! And all very reasonably priced, too. For example, all books were 3 for £1 (of course I took note of that one!) And the husband noted golf clubs were £1.50 each.

So, on this occasion, our first foray into the reuse world, we came away without purchasing. We were both very surprised and impressed with the range, quality and prices, and agreed that it’s the kind of place that you’d just drop into regularly to see what they have. And now that we know it’s there, we’ll check it before making certain purchases. I also fancy an up-cycling project myself, so will be going there once the inspiration hits. I’ve no doubt we’ll be getting something from there soon anyway, so watch this space…:-)

Now, this was a new world to me – do you have one of these near you? If not, do you now wish you did?!

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