Somerset Wood Recycling (SWR), established in 2006 and based in the popular seaside town of Weston Super Mare is looking forward to offering a brighter future for local people after receiving the ninth investment from the Resonance Bristol Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) Fund.  The injection of £109,000 will increase the number of volunteering and work based training opportunities for people experiencing multiple barriers to work, to help them re-position their lives in a positive way, whilst at the same time challenging perceptions of ‘waste’.

SWR is a social enterprise and it uses the business element of its core activity – manufacturing products from recycled wood – as a vehicle to support, train and motivate individuals who want to get on to, or back on to, the path to employment. In its efforts to provide as many life changing opportunities as possible, SWR is contributing to a more sustainable society, both socially and environmentally.  SWR’s most popular products are bespoke tables and shelving.

This is the first investment from the Fund into Weston, which, with a population of around 190,000, is the largest urban area in North Somerset. The town has pockets of the highest deprivation in England and Wales and there is a lack of provision to meet the needs of those experiencing the greatest difficulties.

The Resonance Bristol SITR Fund is a pioneering social investment fund, which aims to help dismantle poverty in the region through investing into high impact social enterprises. The Fund continues to raise investment from private individuals who want to back social enterprises and get the benefits of Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR), a recently introduced scheme similar to the popular Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).

Tris Tudor explains how the investment will help: “We are really pleased to have been able to secure this investment from Resonance. We are going to use the money to transform our workshop, to increase its productivity and improve our marketing, so we can reach a much larger customer base. We also plan to develop a shop in our building so people can buy things directly from us and introduce DIY courses!”

Resonance Investment Manager Katalin Juhasz added: “We are very excited to have completed our investment in SWR, it’s an enterprise with a proven track record who are transforming the lives of those they work with. It’s also the first deal from the fund that is outside of the Bristol City Limits.”