CRAFT - Ceredigion Recycling And Furniture Team
CRAFT is a not for profit company limited by guarantee located in Aberystwyth, Wales and is open to the public.
History
CRAFT was established in 1994 by volunteers representing a range of organisations and individuals in Aberystwyth. The principal aims were the provision of affordable household goods, by encouraging people to donate unwanted items for reuse by others. These dual aims, social and environmental, remain at the heart of CRAFT's ethos.
Central to these aims was the involvement of volunteers who would be thereby achieving personal development and helping the community.
The picture on the left shows the original CRAFT premises in Old Police Yard, Queen's Road. Although cramped, damp and unheated, these nonetheless enabled CRAFT to become established and to build up a core of popular support in Aberystwyth and beyond.
Originally called Ceredigion Recycling And Furniture Team, CRAFT is now known by the acronym.
Official Status
CRAFT is a registered environmental body and an approved project enrolled with Entrust, the Landfill Tax Regulatory Body. It is an Environment Wales registered project, number R230.
CRAFT belongs to the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, Cylch (Wales Community Recycling Network), Ceredigion Association of Voluntary Organisations, Community Recycling Network and Furniture Recycling Network.
Legal structure
CRAFT became a not for profit company, limited by guarantee, in June 1998. Its company registration number is 3574692, and its VAT registration number is 771 887 577. There are no shareholders or outside owners, and the business is managed by its own Local management board.
Current Business
In 2006 CRAFT moved into its new premises at Aberystwyth Station. There are some offices and a separate workshop building.
Activity
CRAFT's core business is to collect donations of reusable furniture, electrical goods, and household items; test and repair as necessary; ensure goods are fit for reuse and sell them in its shop. All prices are affordable, with reductions for people on benefit or low income.
There is a free collection service, with deliveries charged according to distance. CRAFT has separate workshops for wood, electrical and computer items.
CRAFT provides a useful service to those wishing to dispose of unwanted reusable items as well as those seeking them. It also provides valuable employment services, including training and work experience placements, therapeutic placements, volunteer opportunities and paid employment.
CRAFT operates a referral system with recognised care agencies for financially disadvantaged people needing goods : referred people receive a 25% reduction on many items from already affordable prices.
Aims
CRAFT is a successful not-for-profit furniture recycling business that works to alleviate poverty in Ceredigion. In doing so it increases the economic prosperity of the county, encourages social inclusion and benefits the environment.
CRAFT has three aims:
* to provide a facility to enable the reuse of unwanted household goods, by means of a retail shop, and a collection and delivery service.
* to provide employment, training and volunteer opportunities;
* to provide furniture and other household items to people on low income or benefit
Operations
CRAFT comprises seven sections:
* Sales, operating a retail shop that is open to all.
* Logistics, covering collections and deliveries.
* Electrical workshop, dealing with domestic appliances and electrical household goods.
* Computer workshop, for computers and associated IT equipment.
* Bike shop, refurbishing, repairing and hiring cycles.
* Wood workshop, carrying out refurbishment of items for the shop.
* Central services, administration and finance.
Community support
CRAFT is a popular source of affordable household items, and draws customers from all over Ceredigion, as well as those from further afield and visitors.
The collection service provides a means for people easily to pass on their unwanted items so that they may be reused by others, and complements the local council's Bulky Household removals service for the disposal of items that have no further use.