Recycling Wood and Restoring Lives

Aim

To build a new wood store to help recycle wood, reducing waste into landfill, and supporting more disadvantaged adults back into work.

Restoring Lives

Here at New Life Wood we are passionate about enabling people to fulfill their potential. We take lives and goods that others would discard, and provide the means to see those lives and goods restored to become a valuable part of our community. We are a registered charity and do this through a wood recycling project  which reduces landfill and helps restore lives.

"New Life Wood quite literally helped save my life. I was fresh out of Rehab for Alcohol misuse and found myself with nothing to do and nothing much to look forward to. New Life Wood has given me a renewed purpose and a reason to live by helping me learn new skills and feel good about myself again. I love being creative, and have a new found passion for carpentry which I din't even know I had.  I now know that I am valued, and I can help make a difference to others who have experienced a similar journey to mine"

                                                                                                                     - Steve, Volunteer Mentor.

Our Work and Impact

Our project reaches out to vulnerable adults from across South Essex. We provide training and volunteer work placement opportunities to people who have a past history of drug and alcohol addiction, mental health issues and ex offenders.

"Seventy five percent of addicts who have been through Rehab and engage with regular volunteering work stay clean for a minimum of one year". 

                                                                                                         Action on Addiction Survey, 2018.

New Life Wood, supported by local churches, exhibits a Christian ethos in our approach to the care and support we provide. We see our work as a practical expression of God's love for His people in Basildon and across South Essex. 

Our research tells us that while vulnerable adults are being supported on a recovery programme (ie Rehab), or serving time in Prison there is support available to them. Sadly, when they leave Rehab or are released from Prison, often with little or no confidence and low self-esteem,  there is very little help on offer to help them rebuild their lives. This is where New Life Wood can help. We provide quality training to help individuals learn new skills and build confidence, so helping them to get back into paid employment. We also provide life skills, money advice courses and careers advice  - including helping with compiling CV's and help with how to cope with the pressures of conducting a job interview.

Caring for the Environment

We also do our bit for the environment too by helping to keep waste timber out of landfill. With New Life Wood EVERYTHING we collect is reused or recycled - nothing is returned to the waste stream. Last year we rescued 223 tonnes of timber from going into landfill, and helped reduced harmful C02 emissions by 111.0 tonnes. Our team get creative up-cycling this reclaimed timber into hand crafted wood products, all made by our volunteer placements. 

How your support will make a difference

Proposed new wood store

We need your help in supporting us to reach the next stage of our vision and to help transform even more lives. We have outgrown our existing premises and plan to build a new wood store, and extend our wood workshop. 

Thanks to the support of our local community and successful grant funding applications we have already raised just over £35,000. Your donations, and other fundraising we have planned, will allow us move closer to our overall target of £70,000 so our new building can become a reality.  Your support will help us to achieve our aim of restoring lives and helping more disadvantaged adults back into work.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made us even more determined to work harder and more creatively than ever before. Our volunteers tell us that coming to New Life Wood gives them a new sense of purpose, helps them feel good about themselves and allows them to discover creative talents they never knew they had. This new found confidence and self esteem is the perfect platform to allow them to go on to find paid employment.

Check out the our New Life Wood film on YouTube via the link above to see a short video showing just what a difference our project makes. You can also learn about our work and impact by visiting our website: www.newlifewood.org.uk.

Your support really does make a difference. On behalf of all the team, thank you so much for your kind donations - we really couldn't do what we do without you.

This project successfully funded on 3rd December 2020