Hello from Remade in Edinburgh!

Back in October we were delighted to get some crowdfunding from 10:10's Pitch Pledge Party event, as well as to receive the £1,010 People's Project award, voted on by the 10:10 community. 

Now, just over one month into the funding, it's meant a part-time salary for me to keep coordinating the project, and being able to pay for a public meeting where we consulted on our three year plans. We were even able to take the volunteers out for a much deserved lunch afterwards. The public meeting was really helpful in focusing which activities we take forward, and what kind of funding we need to secure for them.

Looking into the future

We've put future activities into four categories:

1. Free activities - many of our repair sessions will continue to run as volunteer activity (after all, we do this because we believe in it - and we want remaking and repairing to be fun!).
2. Income-led activities -  some activities, such as structured workshops, will pay their own way.
3. Grant-funded activities - for core and educational work, we'll raise grants from trusts and foundations to be able to continue sharing information for free.
4. Partnerships and private activities - we'll continue to look out for more creative funding sources, just like Pitch Pledge Party to ensure we keep our core offer going.

Shaping up these categories and plans is all really useful work for putting together our business plan, due to be completed by the end of March.

At our public meeting, people expressed a lot of support for Remade. As one participant said, "People like it because it's an idea that could work". It appeals to people not just for the environmental argument of saving waste to landfill, but also for being able to build community and be a viable project. And as someone else said, "I've been wanting to repair things for years, but I thought I was on my own - it's nice to be part of a group of people that think in the same way".

Skills for youth

One of the ideas I've been getting most excited about it that of developing apprenticeships for young people. This will be a separate project under the Remade banner, and one way it might be taken forwards is to match up individual philanthropists with younger people who need a break to learn an employable skill, and want to learn a repair trade.

As our talented designer Marina, who made all our beautiful cards and posters said, "Designers and artisans these days think of themselves as makers of products, when they could be teachers of people".

With youth unemployment at 25% for 18-25 young men in Scotland, creating new jobs would really be filling a need in the community. A Remade fund would ensure people were properly paid for their time, ensuring that the training was accessible to all - one of our core values. But while this is important, it's not urgent, unlike our search for a permanent home.

A home for Remade

And last but not least, we've been starting to follow up leads for possible buildings - it's got everyone in the group excited and we're looking for a building that has workshop space and storage in a central location. We hope to have more on this in our next update. We need to secure the money for it first, and we're also talking to others about how we might share space with them.

Thank you!

The extra profile from the 10:10 event has brought extra support from politicians, funders, and social enterprise support bodies - added interest from people in Glasgow in forming a group there - and also meant some lovely new people have joined the project. We couldn't be more grateful - even if we're rushed off our feet.

The extra profile from the 10:10 event has brought extra support from politicians, funders, and social enterprise support bodies. 

Last week we had a little 'make your own Christmas card' craft session, which reminded me of when I was a child, having a 'Christmas card factory' glueing old milk tops as angels' halos on scraps of card. It's such fun to make things, and such a pleasure to see people enjoying themselves together. It's also really good to see the non-craft side of Remade starting to take off - we're developing a strategy for our computer repairs. Having the mix of textiles, furniture and computers also brings a more mixed group of people along - we just need more space now so we can store things and accept donations!

With best wishes for a waste-free Christmas to you and your families,

Sophie and everyone at Remade

PS: A few of the best ways to stay in touch with us:

• Keep an eye on our 10:10 page
• Contact me at info@remadeinedinburgh.org.uk
• Check out our website at  www.remadeinedinburgh.org.uk
• Join us on Facebook