185 Forest Recycling Project: upskilling and upcycling for positive social impacts

The Forest Recycling Project (FRP) is a UK charity that’s seeding knowledge, skills and confidence to help people make a positive impact for themselves, their social groups and their communities. FRP reclaims, repurposes, and resells affordable materials that would otherwise end up in landfill or incineration. It specialises in paint, textiles and wood, recycling over 30k litres of pain each year, selling construction and industrial wood waste plus textiles donated by local organisations. It also runs several tool libraries and provides space to a Forest Fixers, a local repair café. Alongside its recycling and reuse initiatives, the Forest Recycling Project delivers practical training and upcycling workshops, tool lending schemes, and community events that encourage people to develop new skills and engage in environmental action, supporting a more circular, resilient future for local communities. Greg Dickson and Penny Gunn will share insights on the Forest Recycling Project’s Green Champions Programmes: 10-week courses for carpentry or textiles. Over the past seven years, more than 600 people have benefited from these programmes, enhancing their skills, confidence, well-being, and employability.