REfUSE is a zero-waste and community Pay As You Feel (PAYF) café in Chester-Le-Street. All of its work at the café is fueled by, and centred around, a dedicated and inclusive volunteer community. Its targeted Access to Volunteering programme helps people with physical and learning disabilities or mental health issues to develop their skills and lead a more fulfilling life.
Refuse intercepts around eight tonnes of perfectly good food every month that is being wasted due to systemic issues in the food system such as overproduction, damaged packaging, and cancelled orders. A busy PAYF cafe on the high street is the hub, from which Refuse also runs restaurant nights and catered events. Surplus food is used in its small community shop within the café, to make up discounted ‘Waste Not’ veg boxes and cater for events. Every year, Refuse saves approximately 100 tonnes of food from going to waste in landfill or into anaerobic digestion, saving the equivalent of nearly 400 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Refuse has an open-door policy and aims to feed and support people from all parts of the community. Across its customers and volunteers, this includes people who are long-term unemployed (often due to physical and/or learning disabilities or poor mental health), people who are socially isolated or struggle with addiction issues. Refuse works with volunteers of all ages, including people who are feeling lost or isolated, with very limited work experience, all the way to those who are now retired and want to stay connected, with all wanting to give back to the local community. Supporting people with additional needs or facing disadvantage is a high priority for Refuse as 32% of adults in Chester-Le-Street have no qualifications and a quarter of adults have poor literacy and numeracy, both figures higher than the national average.
Support is offered to the community through the Access to Volunteering programme, which provides skills, training and experience for people wanting to improve their wellbeing, gain independence or move into further training/paid employment. Split into morning and afternoon shifts, volunteers can try their hands at anything – dishwashing, preparing food, working front of house, barista training, helping to deliver talks and workshops, or warehouse work. For those progressing and seeking further opportunities, Refuse can offer paid work for events which includes more responsibility. This is a helpful stepping stone for those who may not feel ready for a full-time paid job or struggle to find jobs that accommodate their needs. Over the years, many Access participants have graduated on to either volunteering independently or to paid employment.
The Foundation is working with Refuse to strengthen and consolidate its Access to Volunteering programme, supporting the salary costs of its new Volunteering Manager. Refuse wants to improve its processes to give Access participants more opportunities for skills development, more agency and voice within the organisation, and further overall support to help them to succeed. It also wants to develop its relationships with other like-minded organisations into formal partnerships and collaborations. The Volunteering Manager will develop new progression pathways for volunteers, improve volunteer recruitment and induction processes, and develop a system of co-production in which volunteers have meaningful input into Refuse’s organisational strategy. The Foundation will work closely with Refuse on new development areas, as well as increasing the organisation’s financial sustainability to cover the cost of the role in the long-term.
