Our social impact

Our social mission is to find work for as many people as we can, and to restore people’s hope and self-confidence

Collecting, sorting and processing the large quantities of wood we collect wouldn’t be possible without the help of our volunteers. In exchange, we provide them with training, work experience, job opportunities and social connections. Anyone can volunteer, but we work with the DWP and organisations that focus on issues like unemployment, homelessness, mental health, addiction recovery, offender rehabilitation, learning and physical disability, and refugee and human trafficking victim integration to provide volunteering opportunities to people who can benefit the most.

How we meet our social goals

Varied opportunities

Community wood recycling creates a wide range of work, from simple tasks like sorting wood to highly-skilled carpentry. This allows us to take on volunteers with no previous experience and provide them with more complex work as their skills develop.

Inclusive training

We provide mentoring-based on-the-job training, supported by our 15-module course which covers  everything from safety on building sites to environmental issues. This is a disability-accessible way for volunteers to gain skills and a basic certification.

Job support

Wherever possible we hire from our pool of volunteers, ensuring that positions go to qualified people who most need them. We also provide job-hunting support and often work with other businesses in the community to find work for promising volunteers.

Community purpose

The challenges faced by the world leave many feeling hopeless, but working in a team to do something with visible results on a local scale builds trust, confidence, and a sense of common purpose, which can lead to seeing life in a whole new light.

Combat isolation

When people become isolated, it can lead to a depressive cycle that makes it hard to reach out. We provide a free, flexible and active way to get involved with a friendly team, some of whom are likely to have faced similar problems.

Social enterprise

We believe that social business is the key to addressing waste and inequality while promoting sustainable economic growth. Our social model means that all profit goes towards growing the businesses in our network or supporting our communities.

We take a flexible approach to personal development and our enterprises and volunteers decide on what’s best for each individual. However, much of our work is covered under the Social Value TOM System, which in addition to measures on wellbeing and community engagement includes specific measures covering:

  • NT131: Meaningful Unpaid Work Experience
  • NT132: Paid Work Placements or Internships
  • NT133: Personalised Career Pathway Programmes
  • NT134: Exposure to Career Pathways Through Group Programmes

Around 30% of our staff and 48% of volunteers report having faced a barrier to employment

Staff

80% of member enterprises employ at least one person who has experienced one of our key barriers to employment, with mental health conditions the most commonly cited.

Volunteers

83% of members are currently working with at least one volunteer who has reported facing a barrier to employment, with long-term unemployment the most commonly cited.

Volunteers are under no obligation to share their history or reasons for volunteering with us, so the actual proportion is likely to be higher.

How are we doing?

Job creation

Because wages are our primary expense, cost of living pressures and National Insurance changes have hit our network especially hard and made growing our workforce extremely challenging. The network currently employs around 200 people.

Training

Staffing pressures have restricted our ability to train large numbers of volunteers, but we’re still providing around a month of training to 600 people every year, many of whom go on to either be employed within the network, or find jobs with our construction and community partners.

Volunteer stories

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“I was looking for a volunteering spot that challenged me, something new that I could be part of, and they gave me a great welcome. I got trained in all the hand tools and they even got a specialist in to train me properly on things like the table saw, so I now have a certificate. I couldn’t really lift heavy things and I was a bit worried about that but they all work as a team and help each other out so I was able to tackle any job. I felt a real sense of accomplishment producing items in the workshop and I really looked forward to the banter and stories at the yard. I’m not currently able to volunteer because of a health problem, but I still pop in for coffee and I always get a warm welcome. That’s the value of a community project.”

A woman's handsMary, Former Carpenter, St Albans Wood Recycling

“I had been unemployed for a long time and felt very down; I thought it would be very difficult for me to get a job. I couldn’t seem to get out of the rut and I felt really miserable. St Albans Wood Recycling really did change everything for me. I found new friends and it helped me build up my confidence. I’m not really good at holding my own and I’ve been pushed around a lot in my life. This was the first place I felt part of the team. When they asked me to trial for a full time job as a driver, I can’t tell you what that meant to me. It changed my life. I lost 4 stones in weight, became fitter and it felt great that they trusted me enough to give me this job. I’m now independent and I’ve been able to save enough money to buy a car.”

St Albans unloading waste wood into their store for reuse and recyclingSteve, Collections Driver, St Albans Wood Recycling

“I had been working at a pub but got fired because I had a fight with someone. It was really stupid, I was drunk and had a lot of issues going on at the time. I ended up doing 200 hours of Community Payback at Somerset Wood. I really enjoyed it and put a lot of effort in. I was treated with respect – like everyone else there. Towards the end of my CP I was told about the Kickstart scheme and asked me if I’d be interested. I said definitely. I really wanted a proper job that got me away from pub work. I am now the collections supervisor and me and my girlfriend are looking at moving out of our tiny one bed flat and buying a small house together.”

unloading of a waste wood collectionJoe, Collections Driver, Somerset Wood Recycling

“New Life Wood quite literally helped save my life. I was fresh out of rehab for alcohol misuse and found myself with nothing to do and nothing much to look forward to. New Life Wood has given me a renewed purpose and a reason to live by helping me learn new skills and feel good about myself again. I love being creative, and have a new found passion for carpentry which I didn’t even know I had. I now know that I am valued, and I can help make a difference to others who have experienced a similar journey to mine.”

A man working in St Albans wood workshopSteve, Volunteer Mentor, New Life Wood