Rescue and recycle – Deptford’s Big Society Efforts

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Created on Friday, 1 October 2010

A member of my team visited a cool project in Deptford last month that really encompasses the spirit of Race Online 2012.  See below blog by Annie Dare for more information.

“We’re the big society, right here,” declares social entrepreneur Darren Taylor.  “Tell David Cameron to come down, he’d think, wow.”

Darren’s giving us a quick guided tour of the freshly painted community resource centre he’s just set up in Deptford, a chunk of the inner south-east London borough of Lewisham.  It’s on the opposite bank of the Thames from the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf and ranked 57th in the 2004 Index of Multiple Deprivation’s audit of English local authorities.   The non-profit centre provides training, recycled computers and broadband to local deprived families, charities and community projects and senior citizens – all without any public funding.

Today’s the start of a 10-week training, kit and connectivity-to-the-home programme Darren’s devised for local over-55s, so there’s a stream of seniors wandering in to the bright riverside venue to ask for information, while those who have already signed up are swivelling around in their chairs asking for help, tapping away studiously, or staring flummoxed at screens.  Darren darts about to reassure them, to answer questions from local voluntary organisations dropping by to find out more or to swap notes with his team – his finance and marketing staff who have been parachuted into training internet newbies for the day.

'What matters most in life is what we do for others' - graffiti in Deptford, near the resource centre

Underneath the resource centre lies a long vault piled high with old computers, heaped into their component parts.  One corner holds monitors, and there are heaps of mice, hard-drives and keyboards.  This kit is basically the organisation’s business model: city companies pay Darren to take old computers off their hands.  Since he started the business 18 months ago, his team has refurbished more than 4,500 computers.  They sell 70% on, with profits and 30% of the kit is earmarked for charities and those joining his training programme.  Local JSA claimants do much of the refurbishment, completing a virtuous circle in terms of skills and employability too.

“We’re stopping kit going into landfill, we’re upping employability, we’re taking on library services and addressing digital exclusion and we haven’t had a drop of public funding,” says the ex-city and council IT procurement professional.

Darren’s got the backing of local housing associations and the London Community Recycling Network, but he wants the project to go national. “I want to work with more housing associations, to get training, computers and broadband into homes up and down the country.  I really think more companies should donate their kit to not-for-profit groups like this, instead of giving a percentage of their profits to CSR programmes.  I can give them such a strong story of what people in communities like this one can go on and do with it.”

Not bad for a guy who got a U in his computer GCSE.

• Watch Darren talking about Eco Computer Systems.
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