Recycling Lives, the organisation behind Furniture Donation Network, is the proud holder of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development.

On the 21st April, 2010 - the Queen’s birthday - it was announced that Recycling Lives was one of only 10 companies across the UK to have been awarded the coveted award, following a recommendation from the Prime Minister to Her Majesty the Queen.

In granting the award, The Queen’s Awards Office released the following statement:

“Commercial recycler and social welfare charity Recycling Lives, receives the award for its extremely strong performance across social, environmental and commercial sustainability. Inherently sustainable in terms of its core operational activity, Recycling Lives is also a sector leader in social sustainability and is particularly commended for the benefits it delivers to people from disadvantaged sectors of the community, the economically inactive and socially excluded.

“Recycling Lives has progressed beyond good practice with both the scale of its activities and the centre it operates. As a long-established social enterprise with strong governance, robust management and extremely strong commercial performance, Recycling Lives is commended for the breadth of the contribution it makes to its local community and the extremely positive platform for stakeholder engagement it has created in this context.”

Steve Jackson OBE, founder of Recycling Lives and Community Dotcom schemes including Furniture Donation Network said:

“Recycling Lives is a business model developed specifically to practice sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility. The comments given by officers of the Queens Awards fill me with confidence that our model is understood and appreciated by the most senior heads of state in the UK.

“I am hopeful that this Royal patronage from HRM Queen Elizabeth II will highlight the Recycling Lives model as a solution to many issues currently facing communities across the country.”

As the network of purpose-built Recycling Lives centres and Community Dotcom services expands nationally, Recycling Lives will continue to transfer skills into new regions and to create many new local jobs. The organisation’s continued success will help to support the charitable objectives of its charity, which provides accommodation, training and employment opportunities to homeless and long-term unemployed people. Recycling Lives supports these individuals and helps them to regain a foothold within their community, rebuild their self-confidence and to live independently.

By supporting Furniture Donation Network, you can be sure that you are choosing a service provided by a reputable organisation with real social values.

Find out more about Recycling Lives receiving the Queen’s Award…