2025-03-31-accounts

Homemakers Community Recycling Annual Report 2024-25

Trustees

Simon Bilsborough (Chairman) (Resigned July 2025) Nick Miller (Vice Chairman) Martin Hickman (Treasurer) Graham Harris (Resigned Oct 2025) Roger Harris Rev Christopher Walters (Resigned Oct 2025) Nick Tatam Julie Barratt

Company Secretary

Rob Davies

Senior Management Team

Shaun Needle – Project Manager (Resigned Nov 2025) Rhys Humphries – Assistant Manager

Primary Objectives of Homemakers Community Recycling (HCR)

HCR is a registered educational charity (No 1097505) whose primary objectives are:

a) To help reduce waste in the county of Monmouthshire through re-use and recycling of household goods.

b) To raise awareness, educate and promote the need for recycling, re-use and waste reduction within the county of Monmouthshire

c) To give people of all backgrounds an opportunity to gain valuable work experience through voluntary work

d) To provide affordable furniture to those people in need.

e) To play a role in a sustainable community.

The main operational activities of HCR are:

To provide a community furniture and household goods recycling / re-use facility

for the county of Monmouthshire. This comprises of the following departments and areas of work:-

• a) A working environment for volunteers from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain work experience in areas such as driving, delivery and collection of furniture, logistics, administration, sales, workshop skills, customer care, recycling and online sales.

• b) A showroom facility for residents of Monmouthshire and surrounding counties to buy affordable furniture and other household products.

• c) A house clearance service that ensures maximum re-use and recycling possible from homes. This entails the segregation of waste that is then transferred to the “Recycling Department”.

• d) A collection service for bulky household items as part of Level Agreement between HCR and Monmouthshire County Council.

• e) An online sales facility through EBay, Facebook and X to ensure maximum re-use and market rates of return for valuable items, to help sustain the charity.

• f) A Recycling Department to ensure maximum recycling and recovery from furniture that is not in a reusable state.

• g) HCR operates as an educational charity and works closely with local schools and community groups to raise awareness of waste reduction. A member of staff is assigned to cover this.

• h) A hardship scheme to help those in crisis by offering free items. Also the collection and distribution of items for those living on the streets.

Environmental / Social Impact

Our core activities involve carrying out the bulk collection service as a Service Level Agreement for Monmouthshire County Council. Our figures show we collected 824 tonnes of materials in this financial period compared to 677 tonnes in the previous period. The percentage of materials reused stayed the same compared to last year at 21% but the public reused 35 tonnes more. The biggest improvement is that we managed to increase our recycling rate to 36% from 28% and therefore lowering the amount that is sent for energy. This improvement fulfils our environmental aims and that which is laid out by the Welsh Government. Next year we aim to increase the amount we reuse by creating more space on our sites to

upcycle furniture through repairs and painting.

Volunteering

Over the course of the year we enrolled 25 volunteers. Volunteers have participated in a large range of activities building skills and self-esteem. Activities have included driving, sales, administration, recycling goods, customer service, marketing, vehicle loading and other practical tasks.

Hardship

We have continued helping those in hardship this year by providing household goods to set up home where they do not have the means. Families and individuals are referred to us by different agencies. Throughout the year we have helped approx. 100 individuals and families with essential items such as beds and other furniture.

Community Giving

We helped a large number of groups in our community by supplying goods and materials for their organisations. Examples of this are:-

Neville Hall Hospital:- Dressing Gowns and toiletries. Neville Hall Hospital Creche :- Toys Goytre Church – Stationary Goytre School – Stationary etc Oasis Empowerment Therapy Suit – Furniture Pandy Ploughing Society – Prizes for draws. Monmouth Housing Association – Donation of disabled access ramp. Coedwedd – Workshop items.

Gasworks Development

We have built a canteen, office and toilet block. This was completed in March 2025 and at the time of writing has really allowed our volunteer participation to grow. Previously we used temporary buildings. Volunteers are delighted with facilities we can now offer them and volunteer retention has grown. We also received grant funding to build two covered storage units. One is used to store scrap metal and the other stores electrical products. This has increased our re-use and recycling figures. We have also completed the final stage of concreting the site which has created a safer surface for all those visiting and working at the Recycling Yard.

Rough Sleeping Programme

We continued our close working relationship with Spectrum Homelessness Project by providing weekly supplies of items such as blankets, duvets, towels, toiletries, clothing and other useful items. Spectrum distribute these items across the streets of South Wales. We have also continued to work with Cwtch Angels, our neighbours by helping provide advice and support with their development. Cwtch

Angels provide food, clothing and other household items to those in poverty. Our staff have also helped with their growth through helping with grant applications.

Educational Awareness

Homemakers has had to take a break from visiting schools and other groups over the last financial year due to the development of the Gasworks site. Staff have been heavily involved in developing the site and therefore it was agreed to take a break from this work. We will commence this work over the next year. With the site safer we can now invite groups to visit and see at first hand the work we do.

Future Plans for 2025-26

We have recently signed a contract with Tengo to implement an EPOS system. This will enable the charity to improve in the following areas: -

• a) Stock control.

• b) Improved customer experience through quicker handling of calls and payment of goods.

• c) Strategic business planning.

• d) Improved financial control of income and expenditure.

• e) Improved financial measures for banking, cash handling and till control.

• f) The ability to particate and gain income from Gift Aid.

• g) To enable staff and volunteers to work in an environment that is more efficient and shares data between sites. The system will reduce the administrative process and free staff and volunteers to concentrate on the core activities of the charity.

Funding

The following funders helped with our development over the last financial year:The Morel Trust – General development of Homemakers.

The National Lottery – Storage buildings on Gasworks site.

Tesco – Clothing for volunteers

The Mary Homfray Trust – Development of storage for items for the homeless. Moondance Foundation – Development of storage for items for the homeless. Welsh Church Act Fund – Gasworks development.

Chairperson’s comments

It has been gratifying to see Homemakers Community Recycling grow and develop over the last year. The staff have tackled the challenges we have faced head on and have made great progress in taking the charity forwards. I am confident that the changes we have made and the changes that are planned will allow us to operate at a much higher level and in different ways, to engage with more volunteers and to be in a position to offer more help to members of the public and to our stakeholder groups.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the staff and volunteers for helping Homemakers to develop over the last financial year. I would also like to thank my fellow trustees for their hard work. We continue to be grateful to all our partners who have helped raise awareness of our work and signpost volunteers to us. Without them we would not be as successful as we are and would not be able to be as ambitious for the future as we are. Finally, I would like to extend our continued gratitude to the public who donate goods to us and who purchase items from us and whose support remains essential to the work that we do.