13th January 2017
Glasgow Wood Recycling was established in 2006. Since then, the business has grown from strength to strength through their involvement in a number of different projects which are uniquely suited to their particular social enterprise.
That social enterprise is, if the name wasn’t already a giveaway, catered to reducing the amount of wood being needlessly sent to landfill. Initially the company used old scaffolding wood as the basis for the business; however they have since grown to include most kinds of waste wood. It is then gathered and sorted at their South Street workshop and subsequently reused to create quality furniture or bespoke pieces for homes and businesses of all kinds.
Recycling could broadly be considered one of the most social of enterprises. After all, anyone who reduces society’s impact on the environment is also making some kind of social impact by dint of having a positive effect on society.
However, Glasgow Wood Recycling does more – they provide volunteering and training opportunities to local people as a way to empower those who are unemployed or socially excluded. This also includes their Big Lottery Funded “Making Wood Work†programme, which is a ten week employability programme aimed at helping participates make progress towards employment. Much like The Experience’s YES Programme, it is made up of real work experience and offers each participant one to one employability support.
Alongside this, they have also undertaken a number of community and commercial projects, all of which are wonderful and are worth seeing for yourself.
Peter Lavelle has been the brains behind Glasgow Wood Recycling since the beginning, and in this interview we have a chat about the genesis of the business, the importance of social enterprise, how employability and empowerment are key and much more.
I hope you enjoy this interview.
Links
Glasgow Wood Recycling Website
Glasgow Wood Recycling on Twitter
Glasgow Wood Recycling on Facebook