Another milestone for recycling project
The opening of the Cambuslang shop marks another major milestone for R:evolve.
Having already moved from Farmeloan Road to Rutherglen Main Street, this is another forward step with the shop replacing a previous one in Halfway.
Their 2400 members have swapped 22 tonnes of clothing meaning they have reduced 730 tonnes of Co2e entering the world’s atmosphere.
For Wendy Russell, sustainability development manager at the Lightburn Elderly Association Project, the move to Cambuslang has come as a relief.
“It’s been a long time coming,”she says.“We used to have a shop in Halfway and it took us two years to get a let on the Main Street.
“We are really excited. Halfway was great but we didn’t have the footfall there.
“While we’ve been doing up the shop, every day we have people trying to get in. It’s going to be really busy, hopefully as busy as Rutherglen. “It also adds a bit of sparkle to the street.” The launch was attended by a number of volunteers, staff and local politicians, all of whom are eager to sing the praises of the project. Among them is Depute Provost Pam Clearie, attending her second last official event before stepping down. But the real stars are the volunteers. During her speech to open the store, Wendy describes them as their“action-packed supersonic, totally incredible crew of volunteer superheroes.”
High praise – and she is just as gushing away from the spotlight.
“Our volunteers are the leaders of this project,”she says.“The staff are there for the background work but all our ideas come from the volunteers. We have older volunteers who are happy to see an older idea come back into fashion. They were used to mending their clothes rather than just buying new ones.
“We want this to be a real community space as well. We want everyone to use itand for it to be a meeting point. Very often you have people coming in just for a chat. It’s not just a shop.”
Proving it is a family affair for Wendy, her dad Dougie Chambers, 64, travels from Castlemilk to volunteer.
Joking that he has been volunteering“ever since my daughter dragged me here,”Dougie explains he works offshore, but with the oil industry struggling, he has found himself with a lot of time on his hands.
And he perhaps sums up best why many people like him choose to volunteer. “I’ve had a good working life and earned good wages so now it’s about giving
back.”