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Leicester charity Konnect9 has created an ingenious win-win website, giving charities ‘access to excess.'
www.givingworldnline.com went live on 2nd December 2008 and works like this: A business with a surplus of stock advertises it on Giving World Online for frere. Charities register, search the database and receive it free of charge.
The site has already helped scores of worthy causes and stopped more than 20 tonnes of perfectly good stuff being needlessly thrown away. “We live in a world of waste. An estimated £1.37 billion worth of goods are wasted by UK businesses every year,” explains Rama Bhalla, Giving World Online Director and founder of Konnect9.
“We also live in a world of want. In the UK 12 million people who are in low income jobs struggle to make ends meet. “So why not use those mountains of surplus to plug the poverty gap – saving millions of tonnes of good stuff being dumped into landfill in the bargain? Why not hook up the supply with the demand?”
Rama and her sister, Sujata, got into recycling eight years ago when a friend bought a former print works. The building was packed with pallets of paper that the new owner didn’t want and was planning to dump them.“It was of such good quality we decided it really shouldn’t be destroyed,” explains Rama.“So we got the paper cut and distributed it to children’s groups and voluntary organisations.“That’s where the idea for Konnect9 came from. It all snowballed from there.”
Konnect9 takes unwanted toys, furniture, toiletries and books from firms and redistributes them to needy local groups.Over 7 years the charity has redistributed almost £1.5 million worth of goods to 150,000 disadvantaged people, saving 200 tonnes going to landfill.The scheme works well, but it’s limited by warehouse space and the volume of collections and deliveries that can be made. Instead, the world wide web offers the ideal solution to expand Konnect9’s reach across the UK.
Giving World Online allows the haves and the have-nots to deal directly with one another – in a safe, secure and managed way. It is a really simple idea and the potential is huge.
Benefits to the social/voluntary sector:
enhance your reach with ‘access to excess’
help the many thousands at the margins of society, enabling them to rebuild their lives
Benefits to the corporate sector:
save money on storage and disposal costs
achieve corporate social responsibility goals
reduce waste to landfill
improve green credentials
support local communities
help change people's lives for the better
Furthermore every registered donor has access to a personalised account which provides information on:
The number of people helped
The values of goods donated
And the weight of goods prevented from ending up in landfill.
Rama says, “We want everybody to be aware of the scheme. Unnecessary waste is everywhere - where we all work and live. Could you persuade your employer or neighbourhood to do the right thing and let the most needy have access to excess?”
For more information contact: Rama on 08458 333783 or Rama@givingworldonline.com