Warwick district charity Action 21 sustains its future after nearing the brink

BICYCLES, furniture, electricals, books and a host of other items people no longer want can now be donated and sold at a Sydenham warehouse seven days a week.

Leamington-based sustainability charity Action 21 may have lost its tender to continue running a recycling centre at Princes Drive, but the hard work of staff and volunteers to divert goods from landfill continues at the Re-Useful Centre it runs at Ramsey Road, Sydenham.

The site, which has been operating successfully for two years with a shop, bicycle repair workshop and electrics testing centre, thanks to strong support from customers and volunteers, is now able to open every day from 10am to 4pm.

The charity’s general manager Louise Male said: “This site only used to be open four days a week so we’ve really come along since then. We can now also take clothes donations and sell bags of wood and bags of mulch for gardening. Hopefully, from the revenue made at the shop, we will soon be able to set up activities and workshops to help people learn how to live more sustainably.”

It was a little over six months ago that Action 21 lost the tender for the Recycling Centre at Princes Drive from Warwick District Council, shortly after which it was forced to lose eight members of staff and many volunteers.

But with several new projects on the go and further developments at the charity’s Sustainability Centre in Jephson Gardens, Ms Male is keen to spread the word that the organisation is here to stay and getting stronger.

She said: “It has been absolutely manic for me, trying to juggle what were four people’s roles and responsibilities. But I feel really positive about it and the board of trustees has been very reassured and positive as well.

“We are working with Action for Health and the Brunswick Healthy Living Centre on projects at the Dobson Lane allotments in Whitnash, where we are in the process of building disabled access compost toilets.

“The Sustainability Centre is now going to be open every Sunday 2pm to 5pm with a view to people having a look round the gardens and us keeping people informed in what we are doing.

“We are looking at recruiting for a general assistant to work at the Re-Useful Centre and eventually I want to employ an educational officer to help ensure that people are learning how to live more sustainably.”

The charity is also looking for volunteers to help sell items on eBay, operate the shop till and a carry out a range of other duties at both sites and on projects around Warwick district.

To find out more, call 886438 or go online.