Furniture boost for Exaireo Trust
LOUGHBOROUGH University has gifted disused furniture to the Exaireo Trust, a charity helping the homeless and providing temporary supported accommodation to those who need it most.
The furniture, now surplus to requirements following University refurbishments, is in good condition but would otherwise have been disposed of. The donation included filing cabinets, cupboards, desks, pedestals and seating.
The furniture has been accepted as part of the Furniture Re-Use Project, a scheme which will seek to take unwanted furniture from the University (and elsewhere) at a cost less than the price of disposal.
The project then refurbishes these pieces for sale or reuse. This decreases the amount the University recycles by reusing instead, which is bet- ter for the environment.
Catherine Delom, from the Exaireo Trust, said: “The furniture we have received is being used in Exaireo’s new Re-Use Project space; some has been placed in the offices, with the rest being used in our newly set up training room and staff/volunteers area, which is not quite finished yet.
“Utilising donated items in this way, as well as saving the charity some expenditure, is a key part of the re-use concept.”
The Re-Use project builds on the success of Exaireo’s initial Furniture Project, which was also supported financially by the University. It includes a Paint Re-Use Project which Exaireo is running in partnership with the Community Re-Paint network (and in turn supported by Dulux paint).
This element of the Re-Use project utilises unused paint and collects from commercial companies and Leicestershire County Council’s public waste depot at Whetstone – which is the only county facility which accepts paint.
The University’s relationship with the Loughborough-based Exaireo Trust has spanned five years and started with donations of dried and tinned goods, left by students at the end of the academic year.
Loughborough University’s Environmental Manager, Nik Hunt, said: “During our relationship with Exaireo we have donated furniture, but also supported the organisation’s IT through our WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) disposal company, CDL.
“A key development in the partnership has been the University supporting the Ethos project, a project which seeks to provide work experience and confidence building to individuals who have fallen on hard times. Two of the participants in this scheme have been employed by the University.”