Groundbreaking carpet reuse scheme launched by SATCoL
Think about where your feet are right now. Are they tucked up in fluffy socks or strapped into leather shoes? If they’re placed straight onto a thick, woven carpet, you’re one of the lucky ones.
For many people living in social housing in the UK, flooring is a luxury they don’t have access to. According to research from 2019 by End Furniture Poverty, 80% of responding Housing Associations and local authorities in the UK and Wales said they do not fit flooring or carpeting to new lets as standard practice. Even if a home is carpeted by previous tenants, it’s often ripped up before the home is let to new occupiers for health and safety reasons.
“There is a huge excess of carpet in the industry that suppliers find really hard to dispose of and SATCoL have found a sustainable solution to support the community” says Richard Shea, SATCoL’s Service Development Manager.
Shea continued, “We have launched our CarpetReuse programme, a ground-breaking scheme directing carpets away from waste while helping tenants to cover the floors in their home. By working with Carpet Recycling UK and their members, we are taking donations of unsold carpets into our 30 donation centres across the UK and selling them directly to those that need them.”
“Our Braintree Donation Centre in Essex received the first batch of rolls from Greendale Carpets and we sold more than half of the stock within the first three days. This shows that there is a huge demand for low-cost carpet,” explains Shea. “We are also supplying directly to Greatwell Homes, a Housing Association in Wellingborough, who are keen on providing carpets for their tenants in a sustainable way.”
Richard Shea’s passion for the project comes from realising the knock-on impact of going without home furnishings. “If you haven't got a comfortable bed, it can affect your sleep. Items like these have a significant impact on mental and physical well-being,” he says. “Carpet is even more important in the winter when insulation is needed to protect people from the cold.”
Eammon Prescott of Greendale Carpets kindly donated carpets to our Braintree Donation Centre
Northamptonshire-based housing association, Greatwell Homes partner with customers and communities to shape places people are proud to call home. With a partnership that spans over a year with SATCoL including 10 textile banks across Northamptonshire and various donation schemes to The Salvation Army including electrical and large furniture items, Greatwell Homes were delighted to collaborate on another opportunity that would further drive progress towards their housing vision within the county.
Katherine Goodwin, Housing & Income Services Manager from Greatwell Homes shared, “We have expanded our partnership with The Salvation Army who provide carpets to customers in financial difficulty, and to date we have helped 9 households with this number ever increasing. The Carpet Reuse programme has had such a positive impact, helping people feel like their house is a home whilst providing valuable warmth and help towards the cost of energy bills. This initiative also helps the environment, repurposing off cut carpet that would traditionally be classed as waste. Greatwell Homes are excited to grow the work we have already done to support those in need, whilst supporting the planet one roll of carpet at a time”
The Service Development Manager has big goals for carpeting people’s homes. “I am working towards carpeting 700 homes, within the next 18 months and always thinking of the person who may have walked around on bare flooring. We have the ability to put something under their feet.”
For more about SATCoL’s Carpet Recycling scheme, email our Partnerships Team E: partnerships@satcol.org