Community Recycling Coordinator
Donations are the lifeblood of FARA shops but our open-door policy is also generating large volumes of waste that could be better recycled elsewhere in the community. This volunteer role will support each FARA shop to produce a tailored leaflet to educate donors on recycling opportunities in their community.
If you have the flair to clearly & creatively communicate recycling opportunities to FARA Donors then you could be at the forefront of the environmental agenda and assist each FARA shop to engage with their community for the common good.
One day a week for 6 months could see this project through from inception to becoming a sustainable aspect of FARA retail operations.
Project Description
FARA Shops have built a reputation for accepting all but some very specific items – car seats, white goods, TVs etc. Other charities are increasingly selective in what donations they will accept and sometimes will cherry pick a donor’s offering and ask them to take the rest to FARA! Council household waste disposal facilities are becoming more restrictive. FARA shops are mostly small and poorly equipped to handle large volumes of waste. Retail waste collection in London is difficult and expensive. As a result FARA shops are handling an increasing volume of product that they cannot sell and need to dispose of before it constitutes a health and safety risk.
With recycling / sustainability increasingly everyone’s responsibility FARA believes the time has come to enter into a dialogue with donors to raise awareness of the most appropriate ways to recycle items in their community.
The Donor Education Project Lead will:
- Work with a trial shop to understand the where donors live, analyse issues with current donations and identify other outlets for recycling
- Develop copy and creative for a trial leaflet
- Coach and support the shop team to test the leaflet
- Evaluate outcomes
- Revise and retry
- Evaluate and establish a methodology to repeat the approach in other shops.
If the project is successful, Shop teams have access to a thoughtfully designed, tailor made leaflet which communicates to current and potential donors the type of items that the shop can sell and handle really well, how gift aid helps their donation go further but also gives them advice on items the shop is not really equipped to process and the location of more appropriate disposal points. The information is accurate, updated, respectful and works on a ‘we will take the item now but in future please consider xyz’ approach. The leaflet will work to support local recycling initiatives by the council and others.
It is envisaged that by supporting recycling initiatives in their local community, shop teams will develop relationships with sustainability champions in their community and maintain a dialogue to keep their information up to date.
The Donor Education Project Lead will hand over the methodology to the FARA Community Engagement Team to ensure this is a sustainable project.
Skills Sought
- Ability to research recycling opportunities across a local area.
- Rigorous documentation to ensure accurate information.
- Marketing & written communication skills with an eye for graphic design
- Project management & networking
- Close attention to detail
- Knowledge of appropriate software would be an advantage
Timeline
It is envisaged this project will take about 25 days to complete.
The selected individual could make an immediate start and work on a schedule to suit themselves provided the project is completed within 6 months.
Resources
- Full induction.
- Access to FARA Office and Resources in Teddington.
- Access to FARA Marketing and Development Teams.
- 40 dedicated and enthusiastic shop teams in locations through out west and central London.
- Out of pocket travel expenses refunded.
- Small project budget to facilitate design & printing.
Benefits
Opportunity to apply research and marketing skills to the cutting edge of efforts to reduce wasteful consumption in the community.
There is a significant opportunity to promote Charity Retail’s unsung role in recycling by reuse.
Great project to develop portfolio and increase your understanding of Charity Retail and the recycling sector.
Challenges
Many sensitivities – conventional wisdom is that Charity Retail Donors don’t like to be directed but the hunch behind the project is that the public are increasingly receptive to ways in which they can genuinely mitigate the causes of climate change
Shops are busy places and recycling opportunities in their communities are constantly evolving – this project will fail if a way isn’t found to keep information conveyed up to date.
Contact
If interested please contact Chris Marsden, chris@faracharity.org 07543 310 167 for an informal chat.