So I joined this today and thought the best place to start would be with an introduction to me... and the organisation I work for, which is why I'm here really. I think the best way to do this would be to share a recent article I wrote for an online newspaper:

In 2002 I was made redundant from an insurance giant, much to my delight. To be perfectly honest I couldn’t think of anything worse than being stuck there pushing paper for all eternity, and being made redundant gave me the push I needed to head in another direction. Although I hadn’t at that point figured out which direction. Then I happened across an advert for The Society of St James (Southampton’s largest homelessness charity) in my local paper, and although I initially thought this would be a stop gap while I figured out my future, it wasn’t long before I realised that this was to become the challenging and rewarding career I was looking for!

Whilst working on reception and typing up the minutes of a board meeting, I became aware of plans to start a work based training project for residents that would incorporate recycling. I was very exciting about this, and hunted down the manager that was developing the project to ask if I could be involved. Four years on and I’m the Refurbishment Coordinator for what has now become a very busy and successful Social Enterprise, Jamie’s Computers, and I’m very proud to have been part of the start up team.

So what do we do? We provide environmentally and socially responsible services to the local public and business community, and the income raised goes towards continuing the charity’s work with socially excluded adults in Southampton.

We provide a collection and disposal service to local businesses for all their unwanted IT, and the public can visit our facility in the city centre to drop off equipment. We are registered with the Environment Agency as an Approved Authorised Treatment Facility, and our prices are competitive. So far over 3,000 households have benefited from the service and we have over 400 business customers.

From the 100+ tonnes collected each year and saved from waste streams, machines suitable for re-use are identified, tested, serviced and configured by our team of qualified technicians. These machines are then sold at affordable prices. They have modern software installed and come complete with a 1 year warranty. Prices start at £99, and sales extend from the home user to local businesses, and one local business recently saved a massive £21,000 by shopping at Jamie’s! In addition to sales of computers, Jamie’s also offers repair, maintenance and installation services.

Our enterprise provides a unique learning opportunity for the individuals we work with, which is our core reason for existing. Our funded learning suite is available for use by local homeless and vulnerably housed people, and our dynamic project hosts many work experience schemes. Over 500 learners have benefited to date, Programmes have extended to socially excluded youngsters and are available for local businesses.

Want to know more?
www.jamies.org.uk

Amanda Golding
Refurbishment Coordinator