Green-Works is an award winning social enterprise and registered charity dedicated to helping the environment by diverting redundant office and school furniture from landfill by providing reused and remanufactured furniture to small business, charities, schools and community groups whilst providing training and real work experience to the unemployed.

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SOFA News Release

9 September 2010

New social enterprise launched to help the environment, create jobs and provide low-cost resources to local organisations

Bristol-based charity and social enterprise SOFA Project is launching a new venture, SOFA Office, offering low cost, good quality second-hand office and school furniture in Bristol and the South West.  The new venture will be open for business from Monday 13^th September.

The new venture has been developed by SOFA Project Ltd., a long established Bristol-based charity and social enterprise, and Green-Works Ltd., the award-winning environmental charity who have pioneered the re-use, remanufacture and recycling of office and school furniture. 

 SOFA Office will sell a range of low cost office and school furniture which has been donated by large organisations who want to minimise their impact on the environment through avoiding their surplus furniture being sent to landfill as waste.  Key customers for SOFA Office will be charities, community organisations, educational establishments, small businesses and individuals setting up a home office.

Schools and communities in the West African countries of Sierra Leone and Ghana will also benefit through large companies' donations of surplus furniture.  All remaining furniture, which cannot be sold or donated, is broken down into its constituent parts for remanufacture or recycling, thereby minimising both the monetary and environmental cost of disposing of surplus furniture to landfill sites.

 "This is an exciting development for SOFA Project and will build on our long history of reducing the amount of household furniture being sent to landfill sites. It will benefit small businesses and charities who are looking to furnish their offices at minimal cost," comments Julian Williams, Chief Executive of SOFA Project, "Additionally the new enterprise will create a number of jobs as well as work placements and volunteering opportunities for long term unemployed people and for offenders in rehabilitation programmes."

SOFA Office will be open for business from Monday 13^th September and will operate from premises at St Vincent Works, Silverthorne Lane, Bristol BS2 0QD.   Telephone 0117 972 0889.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

SOFA Office

Julian Williams, Chief Executive - tel: 0117 9543577     mob: 07970 679714 email: [email protected]

Philip Parry, SOFA Office Project Manager - tel: 0117 9720889                      mob: 07812 988481             email: [email protected]

Green-Works

John Fleming - Chief Operations Officer - mob: 07921 211653           email: [email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. SOFA Project was established in 1982 initially collecting donated household furniture and selling it at low prices to people on low income.  In 2005 the organisation expanded to provide a service collecting, refurbishing and selling domestic electrical products.  Today it sells furniture and electrical goods to people from all areas of society.  The environmental impact of the work SOFA Project undertakes means that in the year 2009/10 some 478 tonnes of furniture and domestic appliances were diverted from landfill.  This equates to reducing carbon emissions by approximately 380 tonnes.  It is estimated that the SOFA Office enterprise will save a further 355 tonnes of office furniture being sent to landfill in its first year of operation - equivalent to 255 tonnes of carbon emissions.

1. Green-Works (http://www.green-works.org.uk/) was established in 2000 and has diverted over 60,000 tonnes of furniture from landfill and helped over 5,000 organisations with low cost furniture saving them over £2.5 million.  Green-Works has also created over 150 jobs nationwide. The company won the coveted Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2008.

1. Both SOFA Project Ltd. and Green-Works Ltd. are holders of the Social Enterprise Mark (http://www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk/) demonstrating their commitment to managing their business to at the same time improve the environment and have a positive impact on society.

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