Jericho Foundation

Jericho Wood Shack offers a competitive wood waste collection service, reclaimed timber, kindling, furniture and employment opportunities

Jericho Wood Shack is a Social Enterprise set up to reclaim, reuse and recycle wood to provide good quality reclaimed timber, wooden furniture and firewood for sale to the people of Birmingham and beyond at a great price. As one of The Jericho Foundation’s Social Enterprises, we do this whilst providing opportunities for apprenticeships, volunteering and training in the local community.

Our prompt, professional and competitive wood waste collection service is available to all businesses, schools, colleges and charities in Birmingham and across the West Midlands and saves money when compared with skips and other waste collectors.

We collect all types of softwood and hardwood including pallets, cable drums and packaging waste, sheet material, joists, floorboards and doors, plus all reusable lengths of wood and timber off-cuts. At present, our focus is on real wood, rather than MDF, plywood or laminate but this may change so please do come and talk to us anyway.

Collection is in caged 12 cubic yard trucks and we only charge for the volume taken. As holders of an Environmental Agency Licence, we are able to supply Waste Transfer Notes and Certificates of Recycling. We are fully insured and our well trained staff have and use appropriate PPE.

About the Wood Shack

At Jericho Wood Shack, we are always busy thinking of more things you can do with recycled wood. So far, we have made compost bins, bat boxes and benches from unwanted and recycled timber. As a Social Enterprise, furniture making enables us to offer employment and volunteer work opportunities to people who find it hard to get work and this includes support for Survivors of Modern Slavery as they seek to gain essential skills and work experience.

History

The Jericho Foundation was established in 1993, to help support local people in finding employment. It now operates eight Social Enterprises and provides employment and training for marginalised individuals, across Birmingham.

How Jericho was Established
Picture: Jericho's Founders and initial supporters: Christine Parkinson, John Mallard, and Salim and Shamim Stephen
The Jericho Foundation started with a simple drop-in service for the local residents of Balsall Heath, Birmingham, in 1987. The area in those days was particularly deprived and unemployment was very high.

The Reverend John Mallard was the Pastor at the Edward Road Baptist Church. He decided to open up the church hall on Wednesdays, and offered a very simple pastoral service with hot drinks and biscuits to local residents, of all faiths.

John also had the idea of setting up a training centre to help some of the local residents to gain skills and experience to help them get into work.

Early Development

In 1993, The Jericho Foundation Charity was established, and the drop-in service developed an employment focus to help locals apply for jobs. With the support of volunteers, locals from the community accessed the service to apply for work using the Jobs section of the weekly local paper, a basic computer and a telephone.

It soon became clear that for some of the local residents, a simple service involving jobs and skills matching and application assistance, was not going to be enough. Some of the barriers being faced by these individuals were complex and challenging, and many people who were accessing the service desperately wanted to improve their lives, but were experiencing a range of barriers that kept holding them back.

Social Enterprises

John and Christine Parkinson, who were on mission in Balsall Heath, and others then embarked on a fundraising journey – to purchase land or a building and realise John’s long-held vision of a training centre.

In 1998, after five years of fundraising, the current home of The Jericho Foundation was purchased, and JCP Community Business Project Ltd was created. This was Jericho’s first Social Enterprise and operated as both a print business and a local ‘Corner Shop’.

The model was based on the ‘Glasgow Works’ ILM model; 60% of time, the client would be engaged in paid employment in the business, 20% on their personal development and 20% on some form of accredited training.

This started a journey of expansion that saw Jericho develop a range of Social Enterprises, each one being established as a result of the combination of client aspirations and responding to the labour market. We also engaged a team of highly qualified and experienced People Support workers, to mentor and train the clients whilst they are part of Jericho.

Jericho Today

Today, we actively seek out and engage people who have significant barriers towards being Fulfilled, Skilled and Employed. Jericho works with the clients to help them overcome these obstacles and gain relevant vocational skills to secure sustainable employment. We do this through providing real work experience in one of our Social Enterprise businesses and we combine this with an individually-tailored package of personal support, guidance and training.

The people who we work with are often held back by a wide range of barriers to employment, training or social inclusion. These might include long-term unemployment, lack of skills or qualifications, homelessness, alcohol or substance misuse, a criminal record, low self-esteem or confidence, mild mental health problems or no history of work experience.

All of our projects are contributing to the core Jericho vision, and are underpinned by our Values of honesty, quality, value-for-money and care for the environment.

Supporting Survivors of Modern Slavery

We are proud to work with a number of Survivors of Modern Slavery. Jericho is one of the only organisations in the UK with the expertise and resources to deliver a complete programme of work experience, training and tailored support to the Survivors of Modern Slavery.

This holistic help enables these Survivors to end their dependency on State Benefits, secure sustainable employment, and become an inclusive and integrated part of their local community.

We are members of a number of local, national and regional networks dedicated to highlighting Modern Slavery in the UK, through practical and Policy initiatives.