Although run on a day to day basis by, and sited at Dorset Reclaim’s
existing depots, The Wood Shop is a partnership involving the Borough
of Poole and Dorset Probation Trust.
The
Borough of Poole approached Dorset Reclaim with the idea of re-using
waste wood from their civic amenity site – the wood disposed
of was often “excess” wood from building sites and still
in good condition. 
They
also saw previously used wood that was too good to waste, ending up
being exactly that, wasted.
Involving
Dorset Probation Trust and the Community Payback Team was felt to
be an ideal way to complete the partnership. The Community Payback
Team can place those doing a community sentence with us to help produce
items, prepare the wood for production or sale or generally help in
the workshops. Those sentenced to Unpaid Work are managed by the Community
Payback Unit and work alongside our volunteers to help make the project
a success.
Representatives
from Dorset Reclaim, Borough of Poole and Dorset Probation Trust meet
regularly to oversee the work of The Wood Shop.
About
the Organisations Involved
Dorset
Reclaim
Dorset
Reclaim is a registered charity operating a furniture re use project
offering electrical and household goods donated by local people and
businesses to others in the community.
We began in 1998 and since then we have been fulfilling our aims and
objectives by:
• Supplying low income families with good quality furniture,
electrical and household goods.
• Providing training and volunteering opportunities to help
develop work and social skills.
• Encouraging local people to re-use and recycle, 
thereby
reducing the amount going to landfill.
We provide residents local residents & organisations with a free
collection service across Dorset and western Hampshire with depots
in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorchester. We also have an engineering
depot in Christchurch where all donated electrical goods are taken
before being passed on for reuse.
In the last ten years we have helped over 24,000 families, collecting
from more than 43,000 homes, with in excess of 100,000 items being
donated to date.
The Wood Shop is a natural extension to the work we already do in
the local area and fits in well with our existing aims and objectives.
For more information on Dorset Reclaim visit www.dorsetreclaim.org.uk
For more information on Borough of Poole visit www.poole.gov.uk
For more information on Dorset Probation Trust/Community Payback Team
visit www.dorset-probation.gov.uk
