News

News Items

Below you will find items of news about the Community Reuse Shop.  Click on any item to see more content

Last week we had a very enjoyable visit from the Tackling Poverty Reference Group. During tea and biscuits we had a chat about our history and plans for the future….then a tour of our facilities😊

Of course…..as with everyone who visits the shop…they didn’t leave empty handed 😊
 

Following on from the reaccreditation of CRS we started working with Revolve to gain accreditation for Re:loved Local.

Revolve is a quality standard for second-hand stores in Scotland and is awarded to stores that meet high standards in safety, cleanliness and service, giving shoppers that extra reassurance to shop second-hand first.

We recently put 4 of our team members through a recognized PAT testing program with Rundell Rohss which they all passed. This will allow us to process more electrical items on a daily basis to make them available to the community to purchase at affordable prices.

Our shop manager from CRS and shop supervisor from Re:loved Local recently completed an accredited customer services course at D&G College.

The skills gained have been cascaded to the rest of the team to allow us to deliver a high level of service to our customers.

  • Over the Summer of 2021 we have been supported by Dumfries & Galloway Council and working with CEIS consultants and Potters & Co Architects who have been producing a feasibility study that will enable us to increase services to our community at the Community Reuse Shop.
  • In August we found we had been short listed as a finalist in the category of Social Enterprise of the Year in the Social Enterprise Scotland annual awards.  We have also been nominated for awards in the VIBE Annual awards and the SURF Awards.  Congratulations to our team as all their effort is being recognised.
  • As a company we have been working with South of Scotland Enterprise so we can meet the fair work principles.  This month saw us register with the Poverty Alliance as Living Wage Employer, because we respect and value our staff team.
  • At the end of July Brian constructed and Alan, Callum & Ross decorated our Castle of St John Float as an entry in the annual Stranraer Scottish Week float parade.  The occasion was marked with us winning the competition for best float for the first time ever.
  • Part of our recovery plan post Covid is to support our young people to get into work.  We are working with Third Sector Dumfries & Galloway to provide five Kickstart employment posts and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Services to provide two Community Job Scotland posts.  With the support of Kilgallioch Wind farm Community Fund we have extended three supported employees post in 2021.
  • Working with design students from Dumfries & Galloway College we are in the process of redesigning our shop logo. We hope this will extend to interior and exterior signage at the shop, staff clothing, van livery, our stationary and website.
  • In September we hope to appoint a Funding and Project Officer, who will secure funding to deliver and sustain some of the projects we assist to develop and our own projects we deliver.
  • Over the summer we have been working with consultants working with Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway to review how we grow as an organisation and how this should be managed to ensure we grow safely.
  • Even our shop manager has gone back to school, participating in a series of training programmes including leadership & management, customer services, health & safety and risk assessments.
In 2017, The Furniture Project (Stranraer) Limited was awarded a grant of £33,646* from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund to run the Wigtownshire Reuse Partnership Development Programme. To increase the number of people throughout Wigtownshire that have a clear understanding of how to reuse items and how to use the Community Reuse Centre. By reusing household and other items the carbon savings achieved can be determined by using the carbon calculator. *Includes maximum funding of £9,946 from the European Regional Development Fund.

Message us 24/7

Feel free to message us at any time during the day and we will get back to you when we are in the office. If you need to email or Facebook message us, please make sure you have a basic understanding of English or know somebody who can talk for you.