Sue Ryder Care's trading arm has secured pro bono help to put in place an environmental management system that will reduce its waste and use of energy, water and materials,  eventually saving the whole charity tens of thousands of pounds per year.

The charity’s trading division, Sue Ryder Care Direct, which buys in new goods for sale in the charity’s shops, has been accepted to join Resource Efficiency East’s Environmental Management System Club.  The Club will help Sue Ryder Care Direct to implement new policies and procedures that will measure and then improve its use of resources - and ultimately save it money. 

Because of the terms of its European funding, Resource Efficiency East is only allowed to fund businesses, not charities, which is why it is only the charity's trading arm that is able to benefit from the Club's assistance.

However, once the charity's environmental team has learned how to use the system, it can then cascade it throughout the rest of the charity.

Sue Ryder Care's head of environment Kay Barnes said it was also ideal that the trading arm was confined to one location – the warehouse – where it will be easier for the relevant team to understand how the new system works before rolling it out more widely.

Savings in the warehouse alone have been estimated at £9,000 per year once the system is in place.  But as the charity also boasts 370 shops, three offices and 13 care homes (one pictured left), the potential savings across the entire estate are huge.

The Club is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the East of England Development Agency and its purpose is to help businesses implement an environmental management system in a carefully planned way, through the use of workshops and peer networking. 

The value of the assistance provided by the Club to the charity's trading division is around £3,500, according to Barnes.