Clearing a storage unit without a skip. AOK Events
Almost every events agency has one. A storage unit of props, signage and spare stock, kept for a job that never came or leftover from one because they might be used again. And unless your staff have some very empty houses, the end destination for any clearance is often the skip, which doesn’t feel like a good use of material that is mostly new.
AOK Events is an award winning, London based event management company, specialising in corporate hospitality, venue finding, parties, conferences, incentives, event production and entertainment. Running that many formats means a lot of material ends up in their storage, and an event assistant on the team decided to deal with theirs differently, approaching Event Cycle to find a better way of emptying it.
439 items were sent to the Event Cycle team who got to work matching them with charities, community groups, schools and social enterprises. Each item was allocated against a specific request rather than offered out as a general job lot, and collection and delivery were coordinated for every recipient, several of which are volunteer run with no transport of their own.
The AOK unit held what a busy agency's storage tends to hold: foamex signage and posters from past activations, science glassware, card cut outs, paper lanterns, LED lights, timber and flooring, board game pieces and branded stickers, although efforts are made to reduce materials like foamex, these materials can be requested by clients due to old industry habits
Where the items went
Signage became a parade float.
Gary Mason Rhythmical Empowerment Charitable Foundation uses hand drumming for wellbeing and therapy, specialising in work with people who have disabilities and special needs. It took foamex boards, posters, wall signs and plastic discs, mostly to build a float for the New Year's Day parade in London, which the charity reuses year on year. The remainder will go to a dementia club it helps to run.
Science, maths and school fairs.
Harmood School, Camden's provision for secondary students with social, emotional and mental health needs, took flasks, pipettes and test tubes for its science lessons, and black arrows and hand fans for its Black History Month carnival. All Saints CofE Primary took a mini weighing balance for Year 1 maths lessons on mass, and paper lanterns for its summer and Christmas fairs. The PTAs at Furzedown Primary and Poplar Primary took paper cups, game pieces and props for their events, and Furzedown's polywood flooring is going into a weather board and other outdoor learning builds in its playground like the mud kitchen!
Building and making on a zero budget.
Lewisham Youth Theatre offers free theatre to young people aged 8 to 25, and timber, vinyl and wooden boards, as materials for designing and making props and sets, and for upgrading a building it improves without any budget. Slade Gardens Community Play Association took 40 card cut outs for after-school arts and crafts. The Grange Centre for People with Disabilities, which supports adults with learning disabilities, took the largest share of items for its creative arts sessions and gardens, including 30 coasters with seeds inside that can be planted. Its facilities team also gets a toolbox and cabling.
A reward for passing.
First Step Trust helps people with barriers to employment gain training and real work experience. It took 25 sheets of car brand stickers to give to students on its Driving Ambition course when they pass a practice theory test, along with a wooden board with holes that will hold price tags in the pastry case of the cafe it is planning in Clapham.
Small items, specific uses.
Momentum Children's Charity supports families whose children are facing cancer or a life challenging condition, and took a working miniature telescope for starry overnight sleepovers on its charity riverboat, plus LED lights and a menu holder for fundraising events. 1st South Battersea Brownies took LED lights, a wooden box and hand fans for term activities and a Brownie holiday. Helping Hands Collective took menu holders and a note box for stall displays at its community events.
Driving a sustainable legacy
Foamex signs became part of a parade float, car brand stickers became a reward for students, and a telescope went to a riverboat where families spend a night under the stars.
For agencies and brands, the process asks for very little, just a list and someone who decides that the contents of a storage unit should have a destination. Event Cycle handles the allocation, the logistics and the reporting, with the social value and stories to share with clients. The unit gets emptied, and the material goes to people who will use it.
Got a storage unit or a post-event stockpile waiting for a decision? Find sustainable event solutions with a lasting social legacy with Event Cycle.
Get in touch: hello@eventcycle.org
