New Start Highland plans Inverness training and reuse ‘village’ to tackle poverty and increase recycling
An ambitious training and reuse ‘village’ to help tackle poverty while encouraging recycling could be developed in Inverness.
The £415,800 project is being planned by the social enterprise, New Start Highland, as the cost-of-living crisis, austerity and the pandemic have created more demand on its services.
Its aims to reconfigure its base in Carsegate Road, Merkinch, to incorporate a new hospitality training facility including a training cafe and training kitchen.
It also hopes to alter the layout of its low and no-cost furniture and household goods store into one larger building.
An application for a £65,000 grant from Inverness Common Good Fund towards the capital costs will be considered by Highland Council’s Inverness city committee on Monday.
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New Start Highland, which started in 2000, helps people get back on their feet after suffering hardship such as poverty, homelessness and long-term unemployment.
Its activities range from furniture reuse and bike refurbishment to employability training and housing support,
In putting forward its case for a one-off grant from Inverness Common Good Fund, New Start Highland says that from the increasing numbers of people going to the organisation for support, it knows there is a huge need for its services.
It states: “Our training and reuse village will be a new city asset for all residents of Inverness, which will greatly expand upon our current services which address poverty and reduce inequality in Inverness, and facilitate recycling and reuse.
The ‘Village’ will transform our ability to offer access to free and low-cost essential goods, and will provide new routes out of poverty through high quality supported training programmes which lead to local employment.”
It continues: “In addition to the direct benefits the project will bring our beneficiaries, the project will divert thousands of tons of items from landfill, contribute towards a carbon-neutral Highlands and will increase the financial sustainability of New Start Highland.
“This will enable us to secure our suite of services over the coming decades. Following this capital investment, New Start Highland will continue to cover revenue costs, as we have done across our 24 year history.”
It says that following completion, the project will:
* Create 36 supported traineeships each year in the training café and cookery school, helping trainees gain new skills, qualifications and confidence.
* Create routes out of poverty and into employment for former trainees by partnering with local hospitality businesses, from small cafes to four-star hotels.
* Make an additional 72,000 items available at low or no cost each year to the Inverness community, increasing equality across the city.
* Prevent hundreds of people falling into poverty by providing a wider range of low and no-cost goods including clothing, electricals and white goods at its main Inverness outlet which will have improved disabled access.
* Reduce the impact of poverty for those already living in poverty and destitution by delivering more free furniture and home-starter packs across Inverness.
* Divert an additional 340 tons of goods from landfill.
Mairi Macaulay, deputy chief executive of New Start Highland, said: “Levels of poverty, deprivation and inequality continue to increase, following the pandemic and the ever-looming cost of living crisis. “This funding application is a response to this, and we look forward to working collaboratively with various partners to increase the impact we have on our local community.”
A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation this year found 22 per cent of people are now in poverty, and the number of people in destitution (unable to afford basic necessities) has doubled since 2017.
But New Start Highland says the Highlands face particular challenges.
For those in employment, for example, gross pay is lower than the Scottish average, leaving people more vulnerable to the rising cost-of-living.
It also cites the high cost of fuel which alongside the colder climate has pushed 33 per cent of Highland households into fuel poverty, versus 14 per cent across Great Britain.
