Community and environmental improvement projects
Since 1997, the SUEZ Communities Trust has paid out almost £8.2 million to support nearly 400 projects in Surrey. In addition, we regularly support charities, schools and community groups within Surrey through our Revive re-use shop charity scheme and other activities.
Community projects in Surrey
Revive Community Fund
Since 2018, 10% of net profits from our Revive re-use shops has been donated to local charities in Surrey. In 2022, we launched the new Revive Community Fund which has grants of up to £10,000 available in two funding rounds each year. More information is available here.
Supporting the NHS
Since 2022, we have been partnering with the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre at Epsom and St Helier Hospital to help save money and reduce waste. We collect mobility equipment, like crutches and walking frames, brought to the Community Recycling Centre and deliver them to the hospital where they are sanitized and put back into use in the community. In 2023, this project was expanded in partnership with HMP Feltham who now operate a workshop inside the prison where medical equipment can be repaired and cleaned before being put back into use, saving valuable time of NHS nurses.
Partnering with HMP Ford
Since 2018, SUEZ has been partnering with HMP Ford to provide employment opportunities for prisoners through the Released on Temporary License programme. Under this scheme, prisoners nearing the end of their sentence can apply to work on sites in Surrey, with opportunities for permanent employment upon their release. This partnership also includes a sponsored bicycle repair workshop within the prison, where prisoners learn valuable mechanical skills and help repair bicycles from the Community Recycling Centres, diverting them away from disposal through our Revive re-use shops.
Supporting the local probation service
Our paint re-use shop at the Guildford Community Recycling Centre has partnered with the Staines probation office to divert larger quantities of paint away from disposal whilst also supporting the rehabilitation of around 40 people on probation and enabling community improvement projects. Through this partnership, what would have been waste paint has been put back into use to repaint the Adult Education Centre in Surrey, a local scout hut, and raised flower beds at the Spelthorne Mental Health Activity Centre.
Reuse – Recycle – Remember
In 2017, we were contacted by Ashtead WIng (Women’s Institute – Next Generation) for urgent assistance in providing over 1,000 plastic bottles. The bottles were needed to create a poppy display in Ashtead for Remembrance Day. Our team at Leatherhead was able to provide washed bottles in a few days, ready to be cut and spray painted to create a beautiful display.
Changing Places at Thames Mead
Thames Mead Secondary School in Shepperton needed new changing rooms, as their existing facilities were very tired with damp, mould, peeling paint and broken fittings. Working with our main contractor at the Eco Park development, M+W Group, we arranged for the changing rooms to be completely re-modeled and re-fitted, with new cubicles for privacy, new flooring and a repair of their ventilation system to prevent damp building up again.
Money for old phones
Old mobile phones taken to our community recycling centres across the county are gathered together and taken to The Rainbow Trust, a charity based in Leatherhead which supports families with seriously ill children. The charity uses the old phones to generate money through resale and recycling. In 2017, we donated almost 1,200 phones.
