Social & Environmental Impact of Wates Furniture
April 2022
Through us, every furniture procurement is planned with the best social and ecological impact for yourselves, as well as the wider world. We believe in both people and the planet, after all, which is why we are always giving back.
This Procurement Was Social:
Because of this procurement, we were able to work with a largely diverse team, who all came from vulnerable backgrounds and needed support. We were able to provide them with the experience, the references, and the support they needed, all thanks to you.
This Procurement Was Environmental:
We design all of our procurements to benefit both people, as well as the environment. This is why we plan your procurement to have the lowest environmental footprint – which includes making sure the products we procure are majority manufactured in the UK, with UK supplies.
Even More Sustainable Bee Packs!
MARCH 2022
Your Bee Sustainable packs were procured with a focus on how best we can help our bees, whilst also being packaged with love and care by our dispatch team.
Take a few moments to relax, and please enjoy this selection of gifts, inspired by the best pollinators on this planet!
What's inside your Sustainable Bee Pack?
Jamila's Ethical Coffee
Helping Dementia Families.
Wildflower Seeds
Bee-Friendly!
Ethstat Tree Pen
Plant a pen, Save a tonne!
The UK’s only plantable and 100% biodegradable pen. This pen is made from bio-cornstarch and recycled paper, and, once you’ve used it, you can plant it and grow bee-friendly wildflower seeds!
This Procurement Was Social:
Through this particular procurement, we were able to work with a hugely diverse team, who all came from different backgrounds and needed support. This meant that, for a lot of our team, we were able to provide them with a variety of experiences and references!
This Procurement Was Environmental:
Your Bee Sustainable Pack procurement was designed all around our bee friends, and how best to benefit them. This is why we always design our projects to have the lowest environental footprint – which includes making sure the products we procure are manufactured in the UK.
Bee Sustainable Pack
March 2022
We hope you enjoy your Bee Sustainable pack. This project provided employment for members of the homeless community who packaged your bags with love and care.
Take a few moments to relax and enjoy this beautiful selection of sustainable social enterprise gifts!
What's in your Bee Sustainable Pack?
Wildflower Seeds
Bee-Friendly!
These beautiful, clay seeded balls can be scattered wherever you may want to grow some wildflower goodness! All they take is a little bit of water and soil, and you’ll have your own wildflowers in no time.
Whilst your seeded balls are packaged in a 100% recyclable, biodegradable box, these seeds are also completely bee-friendly.
Divine Smooth Chocolate
supporting female farmers!
This delicious milk chocolate supports female cocoa farmers to grow better cocoa, build stronger communities, and thrive in business.
The packaging for these chocolate bars is also biodegradable AND plastic-free!
Ethstat Tree Pen
plant a pen, save a tonne!
Our Ethstat Tree Pen is made in Europe from bio-cornstarch and recycled paper, whilst also being 100% biodegradable. Once you’ve used it, you can plant it and grow a tree, saving up to a tonne of CO2 for every pen you use from your packs.
This is also a unique pen to us, here in the UK and we are the only distributors. Most plastic pens are made from single-use plastic, and many are also unrecyclable.
Wates Social Enterprise Furniture Procurement - Helping Homeless Communities
february 2022
From your Operator Chairs to your Desks, all of the furniture you have purchased has been planned around the social and environmental impact it may have on the world.
This Procurement Was Social:
This furniture procurement meant that we were able to work with a largely diverse team, who came from vulnerable backgrounds and needed support. Because of you, we were able to help provide them with the experience, the references, and the support they needed.
All of your furniture procurements also help to give back, which is why we were able to donate over 8,000 cups to our local homeless non-profit organization, Nightwatch, which seeks to empower and help those who are homeless, or need support.
This Procurement Was Environmental:
We believe in everything we do, and everything we procure. The project was designed to have as low an environmental footprint as it possibly could. The products were majority manufactured in the UK with UK supplies to reduce the amount of carbon produced!
Wates Social Enterprise Furniture Supply & Assembly
November 2021
This Procurement Was Social:
Your furniture procurement was designed with social and ecological impact in mind. Our team who worked on assembling your supplies either live in or have close ties to Barking. In addition to the 202 hours of Higher Living Wage employment, your project funded over a thousand meals and support for The Volunteer Centre in Barking and Dagenham. The Volunteer Centre helps support the 6,531 people that are homeless in Dagenham.
This Procurement Was Environmental:
We believe in people and planet. The project was designed in to have the lowest environmental footprint possible. The products supplied were overwhelmingly (94.19%) manufactured in the UK from renewable materials to reduce Carbon miles. The product delivery had a Carbon cost of 88.17KgCO2, compared to 485.96Kg from a standard supplier in Poland.
Of the 452 items supplied 286 were constructed from recycled or repurposed materials. 203 KG of packaging was recycled from the project of which 157Kg was reused as cardboard filler in our plastic free deliveries.
About the people that worked on site
Five people worked on delivering your project. Each has experience of homelessness, abuse, discrimination and offending.
Kevin is a single father whose former partner struggled with severe mental health and addiction. Although you would never know it, Kevin also struggles with his mental health issues, and the work he does get is frequently well below minimum wage.
Mike has been both long term unemployed and homeless. Mike is heavily reliant on the support of friends and family to be able to even turn up to work.
Dyrell is currently homeless and unemployed. He has consistently found it difficult to get work and frequently gets passed over for less well-qualified applicants.
Rishi is an Apprentice and has had difficulty getting site training. This is the second time he has been on-site, and working on this project gave him well paid, real-life skills.
Nathan, who helped manage this project, is currently homeless. Seeing this project come to life has given him the confidence to bring plans and site maps to fruition. Nathan is now working on other similar projects.
