The last twelve months have been a period of considerable change for our island charity and as we are now Islay Development Initiative, our purpose has expanded beyond recycling to help protect Islay, to preserve it and to help solve some of the issues we face, all around the island.
Last year, we ran an online and paper-based survey to find out what mattered most, including some issues others asked us to include. The findings helped us define our purpose, shape our future direction and make the most of our limited resources – focusing on a series of existing and new initiatives designed to benefit everyone and our island home.
You can read an independent analysis of the findings here.
As we move to new initiatives and new challenges, we must leave others behind. Last year we dissolved our service level agreement with Argyll and Bute Council for processing household recycling. This is the activity ReJIG was best known for. Unfortunately we were left with no choice as this contract was running at a considerable loss despite our best efforts to secure a better recycling service for Islay. We also lost two of our staff members in the process.
On the reuse front, our Re-JIG re-use centre has handled anything useful that people no longer wanted. Due to rising costs for disposal and transport the shop will have to begin phasing out textiles over the coming months and will focus more on furniture that our wood recycling team can either repair, upcycle or usefully repurpose.
Our Bowmore shop has become a community post office and offers space for local crafts to sell their produce. We will be stocking with produce from our pollinator project as we develop it as well
IDI is still a not-for-profit, 3rd sector organisation that carries out its activities while costing you nothing. Our funds are gathered from a range of government sources, individuals and corporate benefactors, whose generosity helps us employ people to preserve Islay. For example, we are the only organisation in the UK that collects marine litter, year round.
We believe real success will come from joining forces with others on the island who share our objectives and interests. Join us, and in whatever way you can, help ensure the environmental, social and economic future of this great island.
Rab Smith
Chairman
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