7 minute read
POLISHING UP THEIR ACT
Top drawer help from the ymca
Pining to help a local charity? The YMCA in Royal Victoria Place are doing good with wood!
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WWW.WESTKENTYMCA.ORG.UK/OUR-WORK/UPCYCLING-PROJECT
“The YMCA has given me passion and inspiration for what I do – the skills that I have picked up over the years have empowered me to keep learning,” Jack, one of the many young people who work with the West Kent YMCA’s Upcycling Project, tells us from the charity’s upcycled furniture store in Royal Victoria Place in Royal Tunbridge Wells. “I became homeless while working for the YMCA, so they provided me with sheltered accommodation and regular work. They gave me a roof over my head and a new beginning. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.”
This is just one of many similar testimonials about the YMCA’s ongoing work with young people. When we sit down to interview YMCA Upcycling Tutor Tina Shea, who works alongside fellow tutors Jason and George to run the project, she passes the mic to the young people she works with almost immediately, asking them to tell their stories.
“I have social anxiety and I never thought I would be able to get a job,” Isabelle, another
of the young people involved in the project, explains. “I couldn’t even answer the phone when I came here, and I never thought I would be able to work in a shop, but the team have built my confidence and now I can do a lot of things that I never thought I would be able to do. It’s hard to find a place of work that allows you to be as creative as the YMCA does. To see the process of the furniture as you upcycle it, paint it, and then
see it go to its new home – it’s amazing.”
As part of the YMCA’s mission to support vulnerable young people and provide them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to fulfil their potential, the Upcycling Project is a social enterprise launched in 2020 that offers training in upcycling donated furniture from a team of dedicated tutors. These pieces are available to buy from the shop in Royal Victoria Place in Royal Tunbridge Wells, and from the Upcycling Centre in Tonbridge. The tangible, creative, and practical nature of the work has a hugely positive impact on the young people involved.
“The YMCA has supported me since I was 17 and just out of college,” says Sam, now a full-time employee at the upcycled furniture shop in Royal Victoria Place. “I completed a traineeship in Tonbridge, and then I went away, got some life experience and came back as an adult. Now I work for the Upcycling Project full time.”
The young people involved in the project reach the YMCA in a variety of ways, including through the Government’s Kickstart Scheme and those who are living in sheltered accommodation. Some volunteer for the organisation and then move into full or part time employment or internships, and some complete traineeships and then apply for full time roles. Crucially, the YMCA is there for these young people throughout their lives, from school right through to adulthood. The Horizon Project provides woodworking workshops for school-age children in Tonbridge, while the Bike Project
also works closely with schools, with the aim of supporting young people to return to full time education.
“We’re trying to replicate what the Bike Project team have achieved in schools with the Upcycling Project, now that we’re more settled,” Tina tells us. “There are lots of other things that we teach here besides upcycling furniture – budgeting, bills, shopping, cooking, important life skills that they may not have learned but will inevitably need when they move on from sheltered accommodation or full time education.”
So why furniture? “Well, the project came about because West Kent YMCA Business
Development Manager Amanda Sheer, and Jason, one of the tutors, started upcycling furniture upstairs in the shop in Good Station Road, Tunbridge Wells, one day per week,” Tina says. “That’s how I came to be involved in the project – I volunteered in the shop, upholstering furniture! When lockdown hit, we decided to launch the Upcycling Project and run it from the workshop in Tonbridge, which has now become the Upcycling Centre.”
Although its focus is on providing young people with the opportunity to learn new skills and gain professional experience, the Upcycling Project also relies on volunteers of all ages to run the Upcycling Centre and Royal Tunbridge Wells furniture shop. “Our volunteers are at very different stages in
their lives, but they all love being a part of the team here - being able to support the charity and help upcycle furniture gives them a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning.”
The impact that the project has on the young people and volunteers involved is testament to the dedication of the people who run it. Since its inception in early 2020, the team have seen five interns move on from the YMCA to enter into full time jobs or higher education, while others have gone on to work within the organisation. “I don’t think the youngsters would get what they get from us, from other companies,” says Tina. “We nurture them a bit more because we know the situations they’re often in, and that’s what we’re there to do. We’re there to build up their confidence - sometimes it’s as simple as supporting them to get into work on time!
The most important thing for us is that by the time they leave the project, they are also in a position to move out of sheltered accommodation and do
THE FURNITURE SCHEME PROVIDES REWARDING WORK FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT
what is best for their mental health and safety,” she continues. “When they’re ready to move on, we’re very glad for them to do so... we want to see them succeed.”
For Tina, the best part of her role as a tutor is seeing the young people she nurtures going out into the world on their own. “It’s lovely to see a young person get their confidence and move on,” she explains. “It’s easy for these youngsters to stay in a safe place, as people regard us as a safe space… but you feel like you’ve really done your job when they say, ‘I’m ready’. That’s what we strive to do. It’s so
rewarding to see somebody blossom.”
Alongside its vital work with young people, sustainability is also a key element of the Upcycling Project. “All the upcycled items available to buy in the shop have been donated – some in better condition than others,” Tina says, smiling. “It’s quite hard to say no to people when they bring an item in that’s beyond repair, but we can’t restore things unfortunately! We take as many items as we can to avoid them going to landfill.” An ongoing challenge for the team is the messaging surrounding the project. “Some of the customers who visit the shop are taken aback by our prices, not realising that we spend days working on each piece of furniture,” Jack explains. “We price each item based on the time and the skill it took to upcycle it, but also to ensure that we can keep going – all the money goes right back into the project. The more people we can help and the more stuff we can upcycle and sell, the better.”
The Upcycling Project also takes custom orders as and when they come in. Customers often bring in specific items to be upcycled and given a new lease of life by the team, or they see an item or design that they like in the store but require it to be a different size to fit their home. “We save an awful lot of items from going to the tip or landfill,” Tina says. “If somebody is looking for something in particular, we can usually fulfil that request.
We’re keen to get the message across that we’re not just another second-hand furniture store, but a social enterprise,” Tina concludes. “We repair and upcycle furniture, we serve the community, we support young people and help them to upskill.”
Visit the Upcycling Project retail unit in Royal Victoria Place, located by the entrance to Central Market, or the Upcycling Centre in Vale Rise, Tonbridge. ■
