Proper Job in Chagford is celebrating the 25th year of the Community RePaint scheme, having first opened its doors to paint reuse in 1996. The celebrations have been delayed a year due to the covid pandemic.

Staff and volunteers from Community RePaint West Devon have been collecting paint that would otherwise have gone for disposal, and redistributed it to individuals, charities and community groups at affordable prices to help brighten homes and community spaces.

In the past 25 years the scheme has has prevented more than 60,000 litres of paint from going to waste.

Since opening, the scheme has brightened the lives of over 50,000 people in the West Devon region through individual and group sales.

Community RePaint West Devon is part of the UK wide Community RePaint network, a network of paint reuse schemes working to solve the issue of the estimated 50 million litres of paint that go to waste in the UK each year. In 2021, the 65+ schemes in the network collected over 387,000 litres of paint from individuals, retailers, decorators, and paint manufacturers, and redistributed over 255,000 litres of paint to individuals, families, community groups and charities, adding colour to the lives of over 176,000 people.

‘The aim of celebrating our birthday is not only to mark this important milestone, but also to raise awareness of the scheme locally so more people can benefit,’ said Proper Job’s general manager Alison Sallis. ‘Community RePaint West Devon offers a simple, local solution to the problem of waste paint.

‘By reusing leftover paint in our community, we can bring a splash of colour to the lives of those who need it the most and help to protect the planet by preventing perfectly good paint from being disposed of.’

To find out more call 01647 432985, email [email protected] or drop in from Tuesday to Saturday at Proper Job, Market Field, Crannafords Ind Park, Chagford, TQ13 8DR.