When people in Preston think of Recycling Lives its the bright green wagons and scrap metal they think of but its charitable arm has grown significantly in recent years to be making an impact in the city and beyond in many ways.

Chief executive of Recycling Lives Charity, Alasdair Jackson OBE, said their impact-driven approach had seen them start to grow up differently from the business whose name they still carry.

Originally solely funded by the Recycling Lives business the charity now works across much more than helping sort scrap metal and has become a powerhouse of food distribution and rehabilitation for prisoners with its flagship scheme having low re-offending rates which have caught the eye of central government figures.

Back to the beginning

Sitting in their Essex Street hub in the heart of Deepdale, we sat down with Alasdair to understand how the Charity has changed, the challenges ahead and his own transition from working in the corporate world to leading a charity with a turnover of more than £3million-a-year.

He said: “We go back to 2008 when Steve Jackson decided we should set up the charity as its own entity.

“I think it was a really important moment to divide it off in the business that way and it has its own trustees, its own governance and its own staff.

“Obviously we work closely with Recycling Lives and Global Ardour as well now but at our heart we’re focused on impact, not profits or sales.”

Alasdair previously worked as the operations director for the Recycling Lives business but six years ago became the chief executive of the charity.

The three pillars of Recycling Lives Charity

Originally the charity was focused on giving a way for people who were currently homeless and out of work to find employment.

They have a 10-bedroom accommodation block in Deepdale and help dozens of people each year to hold down a job and start to earn their keep by doing recycling work.

Alasdair said: “Recycling will always be in our heart, of course, and it’s still a big part of what we do as a charity.

“But if Covid taught us anything it’s that we can’t just rely on one thing. Overnight we found everything just turned off so what I have been conscious of as we look to the future is ensuring as a charity we’re making an impact in different areas.

“We don’t just work with the Recycling Lives business either, we are doing work with Baxi, Suez, Fareshare and other large organisations and this helps us as it provides more opportunities for the vulnerable people we’re helping to support.”

In recent years, an particularly since the pandemic, one of the charity’s biggest pillars of work is in food redistribution – alongside Fareshare – across Lancashire and Cumbria.

Their work in prisons has also rapidly increased with 12 prisons now being part of the Recycling Lives Charity programme. They teach prisoners skills such as dismantling old TVs, recycling work, building their confidence and employment skills and more while they are still in prison. 

Alasdair said: “We originally started the work at HMP Kirkham and now it spans all the way across to Humberside and down into the East Midlands too.

“We work hard to help those who are inside and wanting to learn new skills and get themselves ready for coming out. It’s made a huge difference as those who go through the programme we have a re-offending rate of just five per cent, compared to the national re-offending rate of around fifty per cent.”

Rising food poverty

The charity’s work with Fareshare has surged since 2019 and particularly post-pandemic, said Alasdair.

He said: “The work we’ve done across Lancashire and Cumbria has grown to three million meals per year which we provide food for via Fareshare.

“We get the food from those distributors and out into the food banks and other places where families and individuals can access it.

“But it’s not enough. We could probably do five million meals a year, the demand far out-strips supply.

 “What we found as well is yes you can pass the food on but people don’t always know what to do with it and how they can make the most of it. So we’ve started to do training kitchens alongside Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food where people can learn how to cook, just basic things like a lasagne, pizza or a roast dinner and cook good nutritious food on a budget.”

The charity also now runs its own Supper’s Up food kitchen every Wednesday in Preston, at the Essex Street headquarters, utilising the food, staff and volunteers it has available.

 Alasdair said: “We realised there was so much demand in Preston itself and we were spending a lot of time shipping food out and the demand is right here on our doorstep.

“And I think that’s the good thing about us as a charity, we’re very adaptable, and so we have the café downstairs and the team said ‘can’t we do something ourselves?’. So we started Supper’s Up and now we’re feeding sometimes up to 200 people every Wednesday evening.”

Adapting to a charity environment and funding challenges

Previously Alasdair was part of a corporate environment and says it has been interesting to move into the third-sector where he’s responsible for a team of nearly 50 staff and more than 100 volunteers, and works closely with six trustees.

He said: “When you’re in a company then you’re thinking about how do we drive value for shareholders. With this job you’re thinking how do we ensure we’re making an impact for people out there.

“And my job is to work out how we keep funded to do that.

“It’s definitely a more challenging funding environment right now, especially when it comes to covering your core costs.

“We’re fortunate in that we have the support of the Recycling Lives Services business,  through the sub-contracted recycling work and also them hosting our residential programme, café, training kitchen and community workshop at their Deepdale HQ, but that only makes up about a third of our revenue – and we have to actually deliver a service for that too.”

“I’ve found there are funders out there but it’s more focused on funding the new things or different things – while we’ve still got our core costs and services to deliver in the meantime.

 “That’s why building out our services with different partners and not just doing recycling has been crucial.”

As they navigate the changes and challenges, the charity has been receiving support from Boost; Lancashire’s Growth Hub.

Alasdair said during Covid they were able to access some crucial support and advice from Boost as they navigated a very difficult period.

He said: “It was really tough. No doubt about it. Everything we were working on and with was shut down.

“So being able to go to Boost and get that advice to help make it through those months was crucial.”

The charity has since taken part in a number of Boost programmes to support its growth, including the Boost Business Owners Network, a Boost ran peer networking service.

In addition, the charity met with Boost adviser Gill Nolan in August as it starts on its five-year strategy and is now part of the Growth Catalyst programme from Boost which helps established businesses and organisations to understand ways they can continue to grow.

The political landscape

The recent change in government has seen some big political and financial decisions start to be made by Westminster.

Alasdair is scathing of the National Insurance change for employers made in the Budget but applauds some of the appointments made in the Cabinet – especially around prison reform.

He said: “Before I even start next year then I know I’m going to have to find £60,000 more just to keep the team and charity I’ve got now.

“The National Insurance rise, I understand they’ve got to pay for things, but at the same time they are taxing the wrong people. The amount of impact we have which saves the government money, in reducing benefit claimants, re-offending rates from prisoners, feeding people. I just don’t get why that increase on NI was levied on organisations like ourselves.”

He is supportive of the likes of Lord Timpson being brought in to lead on prisons.

Alasdair said: “I think it’s a masterstroke that. He’s got actual business experience and his business at Timpsons knows how to work with people who have been through prison.

 “Of course it won’t happen overnight but over the next five years I think what they do will transform how prisons are run and for the better.”

A Preston base

Recycling Lives, both the business and the charity, has always been anchored in Preston.

Alasdair said logistically it has always made sense and has been a real strength as the Charity has grown.

He said: “Location wise we’re in a good spot to be able to work across the North and also further afield too.

“There’s a lot going for Preston and Lancashire. I’m from Liverpool myself but I think here doesn’t get the credit it deserves.

 “We have great people across our teams and I think people are just very down to earth here. They are direct, but in a nice way. Preston and Lancashire just gets it done.”

About Boost

Led by Lancashire County Council, supported by Government and ten local authorities, Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub, one of 37 Growth Hubs in the UK. Since 2013, Boost has supported over 14,000 businesses.

From September 1 2023, Boost is funded by Lancashire County Council, Department for Business & Trade (DBT), and UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocations from ten Lancashire local authorities.

Boost’s local authority partners are Blackburn with Darwen Council, Burnley Council, Chorley Council, Fylde Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, Pendle Borough Council, Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council, West Lancashire Borough Council and Wyre Council.

Boost offers six core services including: Business Support Helpdesk, Business Advice Service: Growth Catalyst, Scale to Thrive, Flying Start, Access to Finance. The Business Support Helpdesk offers advice and guidance to anyone thinking of starting a business and all new and existing businesses in Lancashire. Businesses located in the ten Boost local authority partner areas are eligible for the Business Advice Service, Flying Start, Growth Catalyst, Scale to Thrive and Access to Finance.

This feature was brought to you as part of a partnership series of stories about business in and around Preston, celebrating start-up and scale-up businesses in and around the city, in conjunction with Boost Lancashire. If you’re thinking of starting up a business or want help growing your existing business then speak to Boost Lancashire or give them a call on 08004880057 or email them to discover all the ways they can help your business ideas to grow.

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