A groundbreaking recycling project for building materials, the first of its kind in Scotland, is set to be officially launched in Lanarkshire on Friday, July 24th 2009.
Yooz, a new social enterprise, aims to use the proceeds from selling on surplus building products destined for landfill to fund a brand new £10 million Scottish sporting Centre of Excellence for disabled people.
Having secured an Increase III grant worth £183,000, via its parent charity Active4All, from the Scottish Government to set up the venture, the company has now teamed up with Business Gateway, Lanarkshire Office to access further funding streams and gain essential training.
Ian Strachan, Chairman, Yooz said: "By donating surplus building materials we're providing the Scottish construction trade with a unique opportunity to assist charity and the environment. Not only will their participation ultimately help produce the next generation of elite disabled sportspeople it also offers them a way to address their landfill targets and taxes.
Setting up a new social enterprise is challenging and that's why we've turned to Business Gateway for expert help and advice, and this will continue to be, essential to us and will ultimately help us reach our goal."
Already, Yooz - which is in the process of being registered as a charity - is in talks with several of Scotland's biggest construction companies including Laing O'Rourke and Morgan Ashurst.
The Yooz Yard Today
Elspeth Irvine, Social Enterprise Adviser, Business Gateway, Lanarkshire Office, said: "Each year the social enterprise team at Business Gateway works with around 100 of Lanarkshire's social enterprises. We can provide guidance for locating and completing funding applications, specialist business advice and free business skills training. Yooz sums up everything a social enterprise should be and we hope that the construction trade will see the great benefits such a scheme can bring, not only to their industry but ultimately Scotland's disabled population."
Once completed the sporting Centre for Excellence for disabled people, which, it is hoped, will be located on land near Strathclyde Country Park, will encompass four full size basketball courts - for wheelchair basketball and rugby, a 25 metre swimming pool, supported accommodation, an outdoor running and sporting track as well as numerous football pitches.
Ian said: "As a disabled person myself I know just how much the centre will mean to the 10 million people registered disabled in the UK, one million of whom stay in Scotland. Not only will it actively encourage disabled people to take part in sports, increase their fitness levels, reduce isolation and provide opportunities to engage in competitive sports at all levels including elite, it has the potential to become a national asset that will generate significant employment and provide regeneration benefits for the Lanarkshire area."
The Yooz yard in June 2009.
Working from a yard off Main Street, Bellshill, Yooz aims to divert 400 tonnes of building material - including bricks, timber, windows, tiles and slabs - from landfill in its first year with an additional 200 tonnes every year thereafter.
Initially three people - a project manager and two drivers - have been taken on to operate the yard, which will take orders and arrange deliveries via a website - www.yooz.me
The organisation is also actively seeking a second yard in Dunbartonshire, with the ultimate aim being to operate a network of Yooz sites throughout Central Scotland that will employ, and provide opportunities for volunteer work, for disabled people and those from disadvantaged areas.
The inspiration for Yooz, which is run by the same board as Lanarkshire charity Active4All - which provides opportunities for disabled people to participate in sports - came as funding for sports for the disabled began to dry up.
Based on the successful American ReStore concept, which has been introduced in England by entrepreneurial charity Bioregional, Yooz provides Active4All with funding streams that will help them meet its ultimate goal - building the sporting Centre of Excellence.
Ian said: "With the majority of funding for disabled sports being diverted to the Olympics and Commonwealth Games we had to think bigger and once we looked into the funding streams potentially available to schemes like Yooz it made sense to adopt the concept."
So far supporters of the centre already include Michael Kerr, a past member of the GB Wheelchair Rugby Team and the Centre for Excellence's first patron, and 9000 local people canvassed by Active4All.
To add your name to our supporters list, please visit the Active4All website at: www.active4all.info