You can't solve a problem with the same consciousness that created the problem This is what we stand by... We firmly believe that if the community can see a positive benefit to recycling and re-use then they will be keener to get involved. Our long term goal is to have a purpose built resource centre where folks can come in and access space and support to develop their ideas. We want to show people that recycling doesn’t have to be boring and, although it’s a cliché, one person’s rubbish really is another’s gold. A bit about us... Seagulls is a social enterprise working to promote and develop a community recycling resource centre in Leeds. The project arose from the need to tackle the issue of waste in the Leeds area and find positive and effective ways to encourage people to recycle. The main aim of the project is to promote community participation in recycling through the renovation and re-use of waste materials, applying creative means to provide the sustainable use of resources whilst offering training, support, volunteering and job opportunities for local people. In the begining... We first met in 2001 while volunteering at Hyde Park Source, a community group working to tackle the issue of waste in the Burley/Hyde Park area of Leeds by creating community gardens and play areas in disused and derelict binyards. During our time with H.P. Source we began to notice just how bad the waste problem in the area was, and from this Seagulls was born. Cat secured a grant from Millenium Awards and in March 2002 we moved to Kate’s kitchen (with Barry the cat as MD) and began to research ways to provide effective solutions to the waste problem. From the beginning we were very clear that we wanted to function as a social enterprise. We didn’t know an awful lot about it, but from our experience of volunteering we had seen first hand how stressful and time consuming it was having to constantly fundraise. We knew that we wanted to find a means to combine our social aims with a way to become financially sustainable. Towards the end of 2003 things had began to take shape. We had lots of ideas, and apart from the obvious issue of funding the biggest barrier to productivity was lack of affordable space. We had been put in touch with SWAP (save waste and prosper) who were keen for us to establish a Community RePaint scheme in Leeds. Funding had started to come in enabling us to get ourselves some training and learn about Social enterprise. In May 06 we met the truly inspirational Elizabeth Mitchell, who taught us to count and fired us up whenever we felt like we were giving in! We were also fortunate in having a strong and committed board who gave us support and advice and didn’t give up on us even when it was obvious we didn’t know where we were heading! In October 2004 we found a small office space with a damp cellar and, with the support of Leeds City Council, began collecting paint from Pudsey HWSS (household waste sorting site). The paint scheme took off really quickly and it soon became apparent to us that there was going to be a huge demand for affordable paint. If we wanted to work towards our goal of sustainability we were going to need more room for both paint and customers. It’s getting going... Our first six months of operation taught us that it takes time to grow and we weren’t going to become sustainable overnight. We were successful in a grant application to CRED (community recycling and economic development) programme and began searching for a larger nest. The search proved fruitful and in September 2005 we moved into Aire Place Mills and began developing Seagulls in earnest. To date we now collect from five Council HWSS sites with the possibility in the future of collecting from all eleven. We bring in about five tons of paint per month and redistribute about four to our member groups and anyone else who needs paint. We are slowly building up a good strong team of volunteers (two of whom have recently become employed by Seagulls). In 2007 we aim to widen our volunteer base and increase training and development opportunities for the community. So far it’s been an interesting journey, we’ve made many mistakes (Don’t know where we’d be without Joy to guide, advise and bale us out!), had some great successes and most of all continued to learn as we’ve gone along. We’ve still got a long way to go, and a lot of work to do, but we’ve got the right people behind us, great volunteers and a lot of passion, watch this space... Achievements so far... 2004. The Scarman Trust honoured Kate and Cat Community Champions. 2006. Shortlisted for The National Recycling awards, COmmunity project of the year. New eggs are hatching all the time... In May 06 Louise joined us to set up her company SCRAP a creative arts re-use project, collecting unwanted business waste and utilising it to run creative play workshops with parents and community organisations. The two schemes work well together and each enterprise reinforces the other in helping to pass on the message of re-use to the community. New projects... We are also very lucky in having an extremely committed and creative volunteer in Alison who is about to expand the nest by running creative workshops in mosaic, rag rugging and much more at Seagulls. Alison has a fabulous talent for making wonderful items out of waste, she has slowly filled our warehouse up with what we initially considered ‘useless rubbish’ but, she has proved us all wrong and has found a use and an outlet for everything that she has brought in to the space. Please call and ask for information if you are interested in attending Alisons workshops. Watch this space for further updates and information on new happenings at Seagulls