Dublin Simon Community accredited with quality standard for their contribution to a circular economy

Charity receives CRNI accreditation for their charity shops

Dublin Simon Community have today (28 February) been officially awarded with the ReMark ReUse Quality Standard of Excellence at a ceremony in their Camden Street Shop in Dublin.

A pilot programme run by the Community Reuse Network of Ireland (CRNI) and funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dublin Simon Community is the second organisation to receive the accreditation for their charity shops.

Welcoming the accreditation, Social Enterprise Manager with Dublin Simon Community, Sharon Keogh said:

“Our shops have two important purposes – to raise much needed funds for our homeless services and to provide a working environment for our clients to receive training as a potential pathway to out of homelessness and to employment. Our aim is to deliver all this work to the highest standard possible and this accreditation emphasises our commitment to delivering a first-rate service to our customers while providing an excellent standard of training for our clients. We stock our shops with high quality goods both new and reused so to ensure customers are getting value for money.”

“Our team members get the chance to experience multiple different areas of work including spending time in our warehouse, on the shop floor, in our stockrooms and in our delivery vans. All roles include training in customer service, stock management, visual merchandising, cash management, IT skills, health and safety and manual handling to name but a few.”

Speaking about the initiative, Claire Downey from CRNI said that Ireland’s ReMark ReUse Quality Standard of Excellence was established to address consumer concerns regarding the quality and safety of reused goods.

“According to consumer research we commissioned in September 2017, only 23% of Irish Consumers bought second-hand (reused) goods in the last six months. 59% cited quality and 43% cited safety as barriers to purchase. This Quality Standard is a way of addressing these quality and safety concerns through a formalised accreditation process.

“Achieving this quality standard means that Dublin Simon Community are leaders in Quality Reused Goods and are championing a Circular Economy. In particular, the accreditation highlights commitment to:

1. Quality: Goods are repaired, restored, or ‘reimagined’ by trained staff to extend their usable life.
2. Reuse: Participant organisations establish policies and set goals and metrics that further their social mission as well as the aims of the circular economy.
3. Safety: Goods have been inspected and tested to a rigorous safety standard.”