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Bristol Wood Recycling Project launches crowdfunder
Bristol Wood Recycling Project is seeking to secure its long-term future with the launch of an ambitious crowdfunding drive to buy its St Philip’s premises.
The social enterprise is aiming to raise £430,000 through a new bond offer to acquire the site on William Street, near the household waste recycling centre, and grow the business for future generations.
People of Bristol are being offered the chance to invest in the project that reduces landfill by collecting, re-purposing and selling timber that would otherwise go to waste, and boosts inclusion with job and volunteering opportunities.
The social enterprise is aiming to raise £430,000 to buy its premises
It has been a turbulent couple of years for the project, which occupied land by the former sorting office on Cattle Market Road for 13 years before plans to redevelop the area and build a new £300m Bristol University campus forced it to relocate early last year.
Now well established in its current home, the organisation has developed a bond offer with Bristol-based Triodos Bank, which became the first in the UK to launch a crowdfunding platform in February 2018.
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Read more: Bristol’s Triodos Bank is first in the UK to launch crowdfunding platform
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Ben Moss, co-founder and director of Bristol Wood Recycling Project, said: “We moved into our new premises a year ago to help us expand our growing business of reusing and recycling waste wood, building furniture and offering employment and volunteering opportunities.
“Purchasing our site will help us achieve that and provide security for the long term.
“Crowdfunding through Triodos will help us to raise the funds quickly and efficiently and the low minimum investment of £50 means we should attract a wide range of investors to join our community and help us create a positive future.”
There is more workshop space at the new site
An estimated five million tonnes of wood waste is generated in the UK each year.
Bristol Wood Recycling Project works to cut down on waste, while also providing opportunities for its 40 volunteers – including people who have had substance abuse problems, learning disabilities, mental health issues or been long-term unemployed.
The new, larger site has two entrance points, enabling separate access for collections and clients. It has a self-contained yard for storing waste wood and the workshop is more than twice the size of that on the old premises.
This means the business has the capacity to expand and directors say capital raised through the crowdfunding bid will result in significant annual cost savings on the premises, as well as securing its long-term future.
The project cuts down on waste by collecting, re-purposing and selling on wood
Speaking ahead of the launch of the bond offer, Dan Hird, head of corporate finance at Triodos Bank, said: “We are proud to be supporting Ben and the team at Bristol Wood Recycling Project.
“The business has an excellent reputation and its work in reducing and recycling waste wood, as well as its volunteer programme, make it an ideal fit with Triodos Bank’s mission to make money work for positive social, environmental and cultural change.
“With a £50 minimum investment, we are able to meet Bristol Wood Recycling Project’s objectives of making the bond offer accessible to a wide community of potential investors, supporters and future customers.”
The minimum investment in the bond is £50 and the offer launches on Monday, January 28.
Full details are available online, bonds are open to anyone who registers via: www.triodoscrowdfunding.co.uk and will pay interest of four per cent gross per year.
Read more: Video: Bristol Wood Recycling Project
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