Eco-Friendships provides funding to local communities

Eco-Friendships talk about their new national operation...

Eco-Friendships CIC is a registered non-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing funding for your local community. We are continually on the lookout for community-based projects to support with our unique fund-raising scheme. We are all feeling the strains of the current recession and many communities have faced severe funding-cuts as the government has significantly reduced its expenditure. This has led to many local projects seeking out funding from elsewhere. Eco-friendships can provide you with the means to fund yourself on a sustainable basis. If you own or know of a small space where one of our textile banks could be placed then Eco-Friendships could help you.

How does it work? The operation we execute is very simple; a bank gets sited in an agreed place and in support of a chosen cause, community project or charity. All donations of clothing and shoes get collected on a weekly basis and then a percentage of the wholesale value gets paid to the benefiting cause. The banks are kept clear of any rubbish and are maintained on a regular basis thus keeping a clean and tidy environment too. In addition to all of this, the textile bank will be adorned with personalized stickers displaying the cause you are supporting and you will also receive personalized posters and leaflets advertising the textile bank which can be used at your disposal. And most importantly, all of this is done free of charge! As long as you can provide a small piece of land (no bigger than 1.5m2) on which to place the textile bank, then you will receive regular donations depending on how successful your bank is.

Eco-Friendships is currently carrying out such operations nationwide. At present, we have over 90 banks across much of Southern England supporting a wide range of community-based projects and charities. The organisation began life in 2009, initially concentrating its efforts on the Isle of Wight where 28 banks have been sited in many places such as sports clubs, churches and Co-op stores. The banks have been received with much interest from the local people and donations of clothes and shoes have been considerable. This has meant that many local charities, including Ryde Inshore Rescue, Freshwater Lifeboats and Sandown & Shanklin Inshore Lifeboats, have obtained significant amounts of funding.

As well as these charities on the Isle of Wight, we have also helped such organisations as The Rose Road Association, a charity helping young, disabled persons, Julia's House, a children's hospice, and Mencap in association with the Co-Operative. Furthermore, much of the funds we have raised have gone to local community centres and their community projects, for example; The Stacey Centre in Portsmouth and Yeading Community Centre in the London Borough of Ealing.

Not only does Eco-Friendships provide a service that benefits local communities through the funding it acquires but it also benefits the community in other ways too. Our textile banks encourage people to recycle preventing unwanted clothing from becoming landfill. In addition to that, it provides local people with much needed jobs: every nine tonnes collected per week creates a new job! All of this activity in local communities has earned Eco-Friendships the Social Enterprise Mark, the mark of integrity.

Over the next few years, Eco-Friendships aims to help many more projects, particularly in inner city and deprived areas where the government cuts have hit hardest. This means that we need to put as many textile banks out as possible and to do this we desperately need your help. If you are interested or know anyone who would benefit from this scheme, please contact us to discuss this opportunity. Just remember, Your Community, Your Donation, Your Benefit!

Email info@eco-friendships.com
Phone 0800 0845 097
Twitter @EcoFriendships

External Link: www.eco-friendships.com