After many years as a man of mystery, Bulky Bob is finally revealing himself as the Liverpool social enterprise relaunches its award-winning training programme. With thousands of people across Merseyside trapped in zero-hours contracts or in the ‘gig’ economy with no employment rights, Bulky Bob’s has revamped its training programme to help more local people into sustainable employment.
Shaun Doran, CEO of Bulky Bob’s, said: “It’s a time of great change at Bulky Bob’s and after many years of people asking us who Bob is, we decided we would bring him to life in time to let everyone know about our all new Driving Change training programme.”
Bulky Bob’s has helped over 300 people into sustainable employment through Driving Change, a paid-training programme focusing on logistics and warehouse skills. But the jobs available to the graduates of the training programme are increasingly insecure and can still leave them living in poverty.
Shaun explained: “Driving Change is now no longer only available to unemployed people, it is also open to those on low paid jobs who have the ambition and drive to seek better prospects and be prepared to work hard to change their future. It will also move from a fixed year-long scheme to a flexible programme, tailored to the needs of each trainee and running from between 3 months to 2 years.”
More than 100,000 people in the North West are on zero hours contracts that mean they have no guaranteed hours or basic employment rights such as holiday or sick pay, or maternity/paternity entitlement.
A recent TUC study showed that nearly half the jobs created in the North West since 2011 have been in insecure work, such as seasonal, casual, temporary or agency work, as well as zero-hours contracts and low-paid self-employed workers.
“These figures demonstrate how easy it can be for someone to be in work but still living in poverty and we want to help give them the right skills and experience to increase their employment chances and raise them into more secure jobs such as supervisory roles,” said Shaun.
Bulky Bob was brought to live by Liverpool design agency Nonconform and can now be seen on the Bulky Bob’s vans, collecting bulky household waste from homes across Liverpool through a contract with Liverpool City Council.
To find out more about the new Driving Change programme and how to apply, contact Carolyn at Bulky Bob’s on 0151 702 0550 or email CarolynH@frcgroup.co.uk
After many years as a man of mystery, Bulky Bob is finally revealing himself as the Liverpool social enterprise launches its new Office and Commercial Waste business.
Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Ann O’Byrne, and Linda Minnis, CEO of Charities Trust, joined the Bulky Bob’s Office and Commercial Waste team, to officially launch the new social business.
Bulky Bob’s now provides confidential shredding, paper and card collections, mixed packaging waste collections, IT equipment and office furniture collections across Merseyside – with 100% of the profits going back into the charity’s funds.
Bulky Bob’s is part of FRC Group, a registered charity created in 1988 that campaigns to End Furniture Poverty, and to change lives through its paid training programme, Driving Change.
Shaun Doran, CEO of FRC Group, said: “We’ve been asked by so many people over the years who Bob is, so we decided that it was about time we put a face to the name! The creation of our new Office & Commercial Collection Service seemed like the perfect time to bring Bob to life.”
The new service has hit the ground running because as well as Bulky Bob’s decades of waste management experience through its bulky household waste contract with Liverpool City Council, another local social enterprise, CARA, with 20 years of commercial waste and recycling experience, has joined forces and merged with Bulky Bob’s to create the new enterprise.
Bulky Bob’s is fully accredited and complies with all the ISO 9001 (UKAS Approved) security processes, giving customers peace of mind that they are complying with Data Protection regulation. The new Bulky Bob’s shredding van can also offer on-site confidential waste shredding or take it away to be shredded back at Bulky Bob’s Brunswick Dock base.
Cllr Ann O’Byrne said: “Liverpool City Council has worked closely with Bulky Bob’s for many years and have always enjoyed a fantastic working relationship. We are delighted to support them in their new venture. This is a great opportunity for local businesses to buy in a service they already need from a local social enterprise, and one that does so much good in Liverpool and across Merseyside.”
The Charities Trust is one of Bulky Bob’s new Office and Commercial Waste customers. Linda Minnis, Charities Trust CEO, said: “We are really happy to be able to use a local social enterprise that not only offers all the security and services that we require, while also allowing us to use our procurement power to help local families through the charitable work that Bulky Bob’s delivers. We would urge other Liverpool businesses to do the same!”
To recognise the support of its customers, Bulky Bob’s is also launching the Bulky Bob’s Charter Mark scheme. Every customer will receive the Bulky Bob’s Charter Mark, as well as being offered a range of information and articles for their websites, which explain how working together helps people to create a better future through Driving Change, and how Bulky Bob’s helps those in crisis through its End Furniture Poverty campaign.
Shaun explained: “We have always prided ourselves on giving our customers the highest standards of customer service and very competitive prices, so much so that some of our customers may not even be aware that we are also a charity and social enterprise.
“Through our new Bulky Bob’s Charter Mark scheme, we can make sure that not only are our customers aware of our charitable work, but by using our services, they can be part of our success and work with us to help to change lives for those in most need across Merseyside.”
Bulky Bob’s Office and Commercial Waste is offering free waste audits to all prospective customers.
Pictured are Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Ann O’Byrne and CEO of Charities Trust, Linda Minnis, with FRC Group CEO Shaun Doran to officially launch Bulky Bob’s Office & Commercial Waste.
How Does Bulky Bob’s Help?
Bulky Bob’s helps people in poverty in several ways:
What is Furniture Poverty?
The End Child Poverty coalition reported in 2016 that a third of children in Liverpool are living in poverty, 31,000 children – 4% more than the national average. Across Merseyside as a whole, 29% of children are living below the poverty line – in total, 85,000 children. Just in Merseyside.
Furniture Poverty is being unable to afford or get hold of basic furniture and furnishings, including domestic appliances like cookers and fridges, that give a household a decent quality of life and the ability to take part in society. Being in Furniture Poverty means a household doesn’t have all of the essential items they need or are using expensive credit to afford them and potentially going without other essentials such as food and heating to pay for their furniture.
Furniture poverty is caused by lack of access to affordable furniture and appliances – through existing budget, access to reasonable credit, family and friends. And by financial insecurity – low levels of income, variable income and high costs of living.
Possessing essential furniture items allows people to live a less chaotic life. A recent focus group with referral agencies revealed that issues such as not being able to put clothes away, not having a table to eat at, or for children to do their homework, have a very negative impact. Getting essential furniture can have a particularly significant impact on the lives of children. Having furniture in their homes and bedrooms is often cited as improving their confidence and pride, and enables them to have friends to visit.
Lacking essential furniture can drive families to breaking point, and simply getting a table to eat at together can improve family relationships, a sofa to sit on together, can allow them to sit together to relax. One referral agent said: “Some of the stuff we’ve got from Bulky Bob’s have kept families together.”
We are compliant with the government guidance on COVID risk management.
What Our Stakeholders Say
A recent focus group held with Bulky Bob’s referral agents – organisations who help people in need and refer them to us for help – revealed that the options for those in dire need are limited. The budgets of statutory agencies have been severely cut and national charities can take too long to help. One even said they have been to the local recycling centre to see if anything had been left of use – “I’m not joking when I say we go to Otterspool and see if anyone has dumped anything.”
They described our referral service as “extremely effective” with the speed of our response particularly positive.
Without Bulky Bob’s, they said their clients would be left with potentially expensive and dangerous alternatives, such as loan sharks and rent-to-buy providers, meaning they can face intimidating visits to their homes and the potential for debt to spiral out of control and make difficult situations even worse.
A common comment from the referral agencies was: “If not for Bulky Bob’s, people would be sat on the floor.” Another was: “just to get a wardrobe makes a real difference.”
The majority of people in crisis are facing complex problems and “as a support worker, you’re always looking for an ‘in’”. Being able to offer them a tangible immediate improvement to their lives, such as free furniture, means “you’re in then, and can get in to what is ultimately holding them back”. Clients become more trusting and are then open to support from other agencies too, such as health services.
The support workers said that Bulky Bob’s “makes a massive difference”, and “It’s a valuable tool for us”. To have pride in your home, and providing your children with a safe and comfortable place to live and grow up in is extremely valuable – possessing essential furniture is an issue that does not receive the attention it deserves. When asked what Bulky Bob’s means to their clients, one support worker said: “it means they can live like the rest of us.”
Bulky Bob’s is not just about offering a secure confidential waste shredding service or office recycling, we are also working hard to help people in crisis.
One of those ways is through our Driving Change paid training programme. We target people who need an extra helping hand to move either from unemployment, or insecure low-paid employment, into a sustainable job. We offer training and support to help them to get the qualifications and work experience that they need to create a brighter future.
And this week has been a particularly exciting one! Three of our trainees have achieved significant qualifications – Paul and Anthony have both passed the first stage of their HGV Class II Licence tests, while Ashley has passed his driving test and will now start his HGV Class II training.
Getting a HGV Class II licence takes time and money – and having one can make a huge difference to future employment prospects. We give our Driving Change trainees the time and support that the need to train and practice for their tests, and we also pay for it all.
Everyone at Bulky Bob’s wants to say well done to Paul, Anthony and Ashley and keep up the good work.
