Upcycling is in the air – everyone is doing it.
Here’s your chance to be inventive, creative and win prizes.
Turn something unwanted into a must have!
The newest project from FRP is an upcycling contest that aims to get people exploring the possibilities and environmental benefits of reuse furniture.
Find something discarded and unloved and turn it into the next Must Have That!
The competition is open to groups and individuals, professional carpenters to knitting circles, school clubs to sculptors; anyone with an interest in resourceful creativity.
The Idea
This competition aims to excite people by the possibilities and environmental benefits of
second-hand, reuse furniture.
It is open for anyone to enter as an individual or as a team. For £3 they can receive a piece of
furniture from the FRP Reuse Centre. They can also take 2.5 litres paint for free.
Upcycling is about turning an old product or waste materials into something different and of
better quality. Upcycling has a better environmental impact than recycling, where an item or
material is downgraded in quality instead of upgraded.
There are only two rules
– The finished product has to have a practical use as a household item.
– The upcycled item has to visibly incorporate at least one piece of existing bit of furniture in
its design.
Exhibition and Prizes
All entries will be exhibited at The Mill on Saturday 26th – Sunday 27th May.
Awards will be made to two categories: professional and amateur.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Saturday 26th May at 2pm at The Mill.
There will be a judging panel of renowned local designers and curators including Penny
Fielding from the shop Beautiful Interiors.
First Prize: Meal for 2 at The Hornbeam Café , 1 year of FRP RePaint Membership worth up to
£50 of reuse paint plus:
Professional category – The winner will receive 2 hours free consultation with Penny Fielding
on business and marketing of their work. They will then get the opportunity to sell their work
in Beautiful Interiors and/or run their own pop-up shop.
Amateur category – The winner can have 5 hours use of Inky Cuttlefish Screen Printing Studio
or an etching taster workshop at Inky Cuttlefish.
Second Prize: Meal for 2 at The Hornbeam Café and 1 year of FRP RePaint Membership
worth up to £50 of reuse paint.
Third Prize: Coffee and Cake for 2 at The Hornbeam Café and 1 year of FRP RePaint
Membership worth up to £25 of reuse paint.
All competition winners will be able to have their work exhibited at The Mill for a further fortnight subject to size and suitability.
How to enter
Visit the FRP ReUse Centre, 2c Bakers Avenue, Walthamstow E17 9AW,
Monday – Thursday 10am – 4pm and ask to register.
For £3 you can select a piece of furniture that is broken or deemed unfit for sale but has lots of potential.
You can also collect up to 2.5 litres of household paint for free.
If you’ve found your own piece of unloved furniture to use, please email to register to take part in the competition for free.
Deliver your finished creation to The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow,
London E17 7HA anytime on Friday 25th May.
If you can’t deliver it then please phone FRP on 020 8539 3856 to arrange an
alternative.
Why Upcycle
‘10 million items of furniture are thrown away in the UK every year. 3 million of these items
could be easily re-used; more could be repaired.’ frn.org.uk
Reusing furniture saves raw materials and the CO₂ emissions associated with making
something new. It is also socially very beneficial by enabling people to access household
goods at a lower cost.
Reusing an averaged sized double wardrobe could save over 200kg of CO₂, equivalent
emissions of making a new laptop.
This competition is organised by FRP and supported by Inky Cuttlefish Studios, The Mill and
Penny Fielding’s Beautiful Interiors.