Bright Sparks, Islington’s award-winning repair and reconditioning project, has lost additional funding that would have protected and extended its services. The news came last night as an amendment to Islington Council’s budget from Green Party Councillor, Caroline Russell, was presented. The amendment, which would have secured funding for the worthwhile scheme, was voted down by all the Labour councillors who were present.
The popular Bright Sparks project and shop on Seven Sisters Road collects furniture provided by Islington council’s housing department that is cleared from empty properties, as well as unwanted small electrical items and white goods, for re-use.
The amendment to the council’s 2016-17 budget from Cllr Russell was to cease production of Islington Life magazine and invest the money saved to fund a worker at Bright Sparks to restore the electrical repairs side of the service.
Bright Sparks was established in March 2010 to divert waste from landfill by offering a low-cost repair service for electrical household items and to create traineeships for school-leavers and long-term unemployed people to learn mechanics and electrical skills.
Recent funding cuts have shifted Bright Sparks’ focus onto the reuse and refurbishment of furniture, which is given to low-income tenants or sold in the shop on Seven Sisters Road. This saves the council costs in terms of furniture purchases and landfill disposal.
By ceasing production of Islington Life magazine, the saving of £36,600 would have been allocated to Bright Sparks. The service was previously funded by the Council at £250k per annum but this has now been cut and, from 2015, the service received no grant support.
Cllr Caroline Russell said: “This funding would have brought back electrical and mechanical repairs to Bright Sparks, a crucial and popular reuse and repair service, which provides good quality essential household items to low-income residents, thereby saving the council money and diverting significant amounts of material from landfill. An integral part of the organisation’s work is the provision of apprenticeship and training opportunities for local people, many of whom have found full-time paid work as a direct result. This aspect of the project could have been safeguarded with a relatively small input of financial support from the council.”
Katie Dawson, former Green Party councillor who originally proposed the scheme, said: “It is really disappointing that the council have chosen not to support this innovative project. Bright Sparks is a really wonderful organisation, which with extremely modest resources gives back so much to the community and the environment. People outside of Islington have been so impressed with the work Bright Sparks is doing that they have set up similar schemes in their boroughs, yet the council that created it seems not to value it at all.”