Futuresource

On the back of my visit to Ikea Lakeside I really have caught the travel-bug and so this week I had the opportunity to visit Futuresource at ExCel on Docklands. I went along with Phil from EUREKA, the London-based sister business-support project to Knowledge Thurrock Innovation Associates. That's Phil in the picture stood beside his dream car, a diesel powered Dulevo 850 - with that sweet ride he is sure to cut a dash on his morning commute in from Essex.

Futuresource is Europe's sustainability event and houses over 350 exhibitors and attracts over 9000 attendees. Stands promote goods and services ranging from JCB earth movers, ethical investment advisers, products for the waste, recycling & sustainable marketplace and environmental consultancy. By far the best reason for attending however is the 60+ free seminars covering a wide range of topics from communications and professional development, through food waste and packaging, to new technologies and the delivery of new waste infrastructure.

For me, by far the best seminars were delivered by WRAP and I learned about Defra's Zero Waste Places initiative and the additional benefits of working with communities to improve resource re-use. I also learned about Anaerobic Digesters which is the new name for what was my Grandad's old compost corner. The sector as a whole is a lot more advanced now, in fact Germany (the Jolly Green Giant) is now growing energy on maize farms.

There were a couple of gems throughout the presentation but if there is one thing that I ask any reader of this blog to do, is to sign up to the Mail Preference Service which will immediately cut down on the amount of junk mail that is sent to you. Less hassle and less carbon = everybody wins.

Swedish sense

On Friday I was kindly invited to attend an awareness-raising event for Social Enterprise at Ikea. I was there with Dave from TRUP, Anthony from BigBarn and a few others to get the message out about recycling, reuse and buying your produce locally.

Whilst there I spoke with Maree who has been at Lakeside IKEA since before it was built (she worked in the site-office when the shop was being constructed) and she was telling me about the new scheme that they have running. Basically, if you've been working for Ikea for more than 12 months, you can apply to take a 6-month backpacking trip to either South Africa or Vietnam and still receive full-pay. Whilst there you've to help out with a community support project but what a fantastic opportunity to see a different life?

We then talked about the World Cup and the effect that it will have on staff-sickness days - yet again Ikea are taking a far more pro-active approach on this and telling their employees to take a holiday day or some unpaid leave and the store will be operated by a skelenton staff. It makes perfect sense and really allows them to plan their resources most effectively.

Clearly at Ikea, it's not just the hotdogs and kitchens which are good

The 1/2 Way Mark

Dave from the Thurrock Re-Use Project or TRUP as it is better known, dropped into the Thurrock Learning Shop today and it was, as always, great to see him. For me, TRUP http://www.trup.org.uk/ is one of those organisations that just makes sense - they recycle unwanted furniture which means that there is less waste, they sell the recycled furniture at a really fair price and they also offer training opportunities for people looking to learn new skills. In addition, they are members of the Community Re-Paint Scheme (which at £1 per litre really represents phenomenal value) and have volunteering opportunities for local residents that have some spare time to give back to the community. All in all, TRUP are very good neighbours to the people of Thurrock.

As you may recall, TRUP are also competitors in the Potato Growing Challenge so I thought it would be good to see how his Maris Peers are doing - after all we had heard about his, and I quote, "forest of potato plants". So when he visited today he brought along a picture and I was inclined to agree - his picture is the bottom one and it does look like a bushier crop than ours above. However, I then remembered a keen gardener telling us that if we used to much fertiliser early on, it would result in the visible bit of the plant doing really well but the yield wouldn't be that great. Clearly our plants a more like bungalows - not much going on up top but plenty doing down below and at the end of the day, it's all about yield, not bushiness.

Managing The Manufacturing Process Better Workshop

For me, one of the most interesting areas of UEL's Knowledge Dock (where I work when I'm not at the Thurrock Learning Shop) is the Product Design Lab, where they use design to build business value www.productdesignlab.co.uk . I don't come from a design or manufacturing background so it was really interesting to wander along to the PDL Office (which possibly has one of the best views on campus) and talk to Matt and Gary about what they do. In essence they help manufacturers or designers to develop new ideas, to redesign exisiting products to make them more efficient or sustainable and to help businesses plan for future growth.

Knowing that we have a strong manufacturing base in Thurrock, Matt and Gary were keen to engage with local businesses and came-up with the idea of an interactive workshop. Aimed at owners/managers of manufacturing companies that develop tangible products for both the professional or domestic markets and inventors/designers, the event will take place at the Thurrock Learning Shop on Thursday 10th June between 0830 - 1100hrs. Areas covered will include an introduction to the Product Design Lab, "The Design Formula", the parallels between good design for business gain, subsidised business support opportunities and a Q & A session. As with all Knowledge Thurrock Innovation Associate events, places are free and include a bacon or vegetarian bap, tea & coffee. Please contact Richard on 07500 802 311 or email r.a.snell@uel.ac.uk to reserve a place or should you have any questions.

Fun With Fabrics

According to the news last night it seems that sales of wartime favourites such as corned beef, fish paste and powdered custard have all rocketed since the recession began. During leaner times, not only is the nation finding comfort in stodgy nostalgia food but it is also finding old ways to trim the fat from household budgets.

Back then it was also popular for people to make their own clothes and darning socks was something that children learnt at Cubs and Brownies. With the advent of low-price fashion retailers such as Primarni and the diversification of supermarket chains to include clothing lines, making your own clothes became a more expensive and less popular option. As a result sewing and machine sewing skills have dwindled and a generation has lost the ability to alter clothes, make their own curtains or indeed recycle curtains into clothes.

As ever, the Thurrock Learning Shop, keen to promote recycling and resource reuse is giving locals the opportunity to learn a new skill or refresh an old hobby. The Fun with Fabrics workshop, which takes place on Friday 11th June, will teach paticipants how to use a sewing machine and to make their own summer dress. The sewing machines and all materials will be provided and the workshop if free. Places are stictly limited, so if you would like further information or to reserve your place please call Daphne on 01375 485 490.

Potato Update

With a little over 2-months to go before the weigh-in and judging of the Thurrock Potato Challenge, I thought I would talk to some of the other competitors to find out how their crops are growing. Conveniently, Maree from IKEA was at the Learning Shop this morning attending the Social Enterprise Round Table event and after the meeting I was able to ask her if she was confident with plants. It seems that her plants are doing very well as a result of their coffee diet and she is half-way up the bag having topped a few times. Sadly, on the day when the seed potatoes and growing bag were delivered to her, Maree was at HQ in Sweden and as a result she didn't find them 'till a week after her return. Furthermore, when she found them they were a potato short which could clearly result in a decreased yield....

The next competitor that I spoke with was Dave from TRUP - the furniture recycling depot in Thurrock. Now Dave, in fairness, does wear glasses which could explain his boasting the other week that his plants were standing 6 inches and bushy. Either that or he is competitively fibbing in order to psyche the other teams out. Currently, we have a Knowledge Thurrock Innovation Associate undertaking a MarComs project at TRUP so I will be asking the Associate the true state of play but here at the Learning Shop, we aren't that bothered.

The other competitor I spoke with today was Richard, GM at the Park Inn, Thurrock. Richard is extremely busy at the moment as he is overseeing a huge £2.3m refurbishment of the venue and this perhaps explains why his crop are still chitting. Of course, it is a shame that he will be unable to take part in the yield competition but I suppose that there is still an opportunity for one of his wild-looking chits to enter into the Potato That Most Looks Like a Celebrity......

As for our plants, they are looking good and the seaweed and chicken diet seems to be working a treat.

Silver Surfers Day

As part of Adult Learners Week, UEL, Thurrock CVS and Thurrock Library Services are joining forces to offer a free Internet taster session aimed at the older generation. Taking place at the Thurrock Learning Shop on Friday 21st May between 10am and 1pm the session is ideal for those with limited or no experience of computers. There will be simple handouts to take home on web terminology, email and phone, Internet security, social networking, shopping and banking online. Better still, there will be information about the "Wiser for IT" computer courses at local libraries and how to make more use of library facilities to connect to the Internet.

Chances are that if you are reading this on the Learning Shop Blog then the taster session is probably not for you - this is an opportunity for those, like my parents, who went to school in the era when computers were kept behind locked doors in places like Bletchley Park. It will give practical information about how to get online, how to stay safe online and some of the ways of keeping in contact with friends and family.

Since my parents did their first taster-session a few years ago, they've come a long way. My mum no longer writes emails in the form of telexes (stop), my dad knows the most competitively-priced fare on a cross-Channel ferry for the next 6-months (and tells me on an almost daily basis) and they can keep up-to-date with how the potatoes are doing. For more practical uses they've been able to research information about recovering from a heart-attack, can keep up-to-date with their grand-children's busy lives and best of all can often be heard laughing like drains at some joke that a friend has sent them.

If you know somebody who could benefit from this session or if you would like some more information please contact Karen Glazzard on 01375 389889.