A bit of history

The Leaside wood recycling project was set up in October 2001 to salvage and re-use some of the timber wasted in the Leaside area of East London. We based ourselves initially on the Brighton Wood recycling project. Using the Bow Centre as a temporary office space and with the help of lots of volunteers we started up in a little temporary yard in Hackney Wick, East London.

In line with our ethos we bought a number of battery powered vehicles (old milk floats) and got on with the process of rescuing some of the fine and beautiful wood destined for land fill, incineration or otherwise. We have saved some incredible stuff, including wood from a 500 year old flower mill in Greenwich and notably an old jetty straight out of the Thames which delivered some huge beautiful Jarrah, Pitch Pine and Green Heart and underneath the barnacles all the wood was good as new.

Now a couple of years down the line and after lots of help and assistance from many great people and organisations we find ourselves permanently based in Lochnagar Steet in Bromley By Bow! The new yard is excellent both in size and location, we are right next to the Blackwall Tunnel approach road, so are easily accessible from all over the place. We are still right in the middle of setting everything up and that means everything from the tools, the saws and other machinery to an earth oven that will feed us all.

The present

Right now we are going from strength to strength! With new premises, a dedicated team of volunteers and a few paid staff we are expanded the project in every way. We are now able to take on even bigger contracts and have a nice line in hand made benches and other wood products. Our recycled wooden coffins are now going down a storm as are our newly designed picnic tables. Our furniture designers are into making big, bold statements, hence the look of all our products. Everything we make is built to last.


Financial information and the future

The Project is a not-for-profit- environmental group and - apart from a small amount of voluntary labour - is completely financially self-supporting. Any surplus we do make will be reinvested or given in grants and loans to other local environmental groups.

Our income is derived from the charges we make for our collection service and from sales of wood and other projects we get involved with. In the financial year 2002 - 2003 our turnover was about 250tons.

We are, along with Brighton and a number of others, pioneering this low-tech, low-capital intensive form of wood recycling. We reduce waste, save resources, provide low cost wood and are creating employment. Every city needs a wood recycling project and we intend to do our best to see many more set up in the future.

All in all, that's a lot of jobs, a lot of resources saved and a lot less waste ending up in landfill. (Some quotes in this paragraph taken from the Brighton recycling website).

Some of our staff

We have an ever growing team of workers, both voluntary and paid staff, these include -

Danny O'Sullivan (managing director) Danny has been recycling wood and using it on building projects for many years. He set up the company for two reasons: of course the first is to rescue as much wood as possible from landfill and incineration. The second reason was and is to be a skills provider for the local population. We hope to provide much more employment through our project.

Martin (The longest serving volunteer) Martin has been with us almost from the start. He is one of our most dedicated people and can always be relied upon. He is an expert denailer and likes to get involved in all aspects of wood recycling. He is an asset to the company!

Charlie Seeber (board member) Charlie is a very acomplished carpenter & inventor, who loves to work with "antique" woods. He is also very willing to pass on his considerable skills to volunteers in training.

Nick Coughlin (advisory board) Nick's background in design as well as his woodworking skills make him an extremely valued member of the team.