Cake sale planned A cake sale will raise money for bus fares for volunteers at the Crow Recycling Scrapstore opening on November 30. Occasionally people come to visit keen to volunteer but struggling to find the bus fares to reach us. Funding from charitable trusts for bus fares is hard to find. So we're having a cake sale to kick start our volunteer bus fare fund. Volunteers sort and shred waste paper along with sorting, crushing and baling used drinks cans to keep Crow up and running. Most of our volunteers are disabled. The Scrapstore, normally only open weekdays, will be open on Saturday November 30 from 10am to 2pm. Visit for ideas on how to to put the wow factor in Christmas without depleting the planet's resources. There will be gift wrap, card making materials and decorations on sale at bargain prices all donated for reuse. The Scrapstore is a member only shop with annual membership at £10. Crow Recycling is a registered charity set up in 1985 to provide work placements for disabled people.

Crow Scrapstore Inspiration for a greener Christmas is at the centre of the Crow Recycling Scrapstore Saturday opening. The Scrapstore is having a Saturday opening on November 30 from 10am to 2pm. Making presents look beautiful, creating home made cards, decorating the house and packing up presents to post don't cost the earth because the Scrapstore sells waste materials donated to reuse for arts and crafts. People are asked to bring their membership cards or pay the £10 annual membership fee on the day to choose from a host of arts and crafts supplies for a creative Christmas. Scrapstore development worker Lauren Dunn said: "Join us for our Saturday opening and use your creativity to put the wow factor into Christmas without depleting the planet's valuable resources." For wrapping presents the Scrapstore sells fabric scraps, which can be reused, and brown recyclable paper to decorate. They both work as alternatives to shiny wrapping paper which can't be recycled and has to be burnt in an incinerator or sent to a landfill site. To make your house look festive there are second hand Christmas decorations.  Card making supplies include paper, card, kits, punches, stamps and back copies of card making magazines. Those with relatives far away can buy bargain padded envelopes for posting presents. The usual Scrapstore supplies will also be on sale including wool, thread, fabric pieces, fabric off the roll, hula hoops, long cardboard tubes, jewellery making supplies, mounting boards, zips and buttons. The Scrapstore is part of Crow Recycling at Orchard House, Sparkbrook Street, Hillfields, Coventry, CV1 5LB. Tel 02476552444. Crow Recycling is a registered charity set up in 1985 to provide work placements for disabled people.

  Educational visits to Crow now cost £30 per class. The charity's trustees made the decision to charge for the visits, previously free, after grant funding for educational projects came to an end. Education development worker Lucy Lynch said: "It's disappointing to have to start charging but our grant funding ran out and was not renewed. By charging approximately £1 per pupil for a full class visit we can continue offering visits for the rest of the autumn term and hopefully the spring and summer terms as well." Crow Recycling offers visits of 45 minutes to an hour for up to one class at a  time during Coventry school terms. Pupils have chance to help sort paper ready for recycling, sort cans and see the Crow aluminium can crushing machine in action. They also find out how we shred and bale documents to recycle or use as animal bedding. Schools bringing three or more classes in the same term will be offered a discount depending on how many classes are coming. For more information about school visits contact Crow on 02476552444 or e mail crow@talktalkbusiness.net.    

  Crow Recycling will be closing for an autumn shutdown from lunch time on Friday October 18 to the morning of Monday October 28. The shutdown is at the same time as the Coventry school half term. Customers for confidential shredding and non confidential paper collections will be given extra bags ahead of the shutdown. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Good quality second hand clothes are on sale at Crow ideal for people who have signed up to Oxfam's Second Hand September. The garments are on display in the Crow Recycling entrance hall at just £1 each for Scrapstore members. Second Hand September was launched by Oxfam and is backed by Vogue model Stella Tennant. The charity is asking people to buy clothes second hand rather than new during September to preserve the planet's scarce resources. Click here to read Scrapstore development worker Lauren Dunn's top tips for bagging stylish bargains during Second Hand September. The Crow Recycling Scrapstore is at Orchard House, Sparkbrook Street, Hillfields, Coventry CV1 5LB. Scrapstore opening times are Mondays to Thursdays 9.30am to 3pm and Fridays 9.30am to 12 noon.

  Car boot sales, Depop and setting aside plenty of time to rummage through charity shops are Scrapstore development worker Lauren Dunn's top tips for Second Hand September. She's signed up to the Oxfam initiative and pledged not to buy any new clothes for a month. She said: "With charity shops I generally try and go to all the ones in the city centre if I'm looking for something. You have to set aside a bit of time to rummage and visit quite a few to find what you want. "I once found a pair of Doc Martens in my size - I'm only size 2 so I couldn't believe I'd found them in a charity shop and they were only £8. Scrapstore Development Worker Lauren Dunn "Car boot sales are pretty good places for second hand clothes. They're usually a lot cheaper than charity shops because people want to get rid of things quickly. I've found children's clothes for 50 pence and of course because children grow so fast they're hardly worn. "They're really good for toys as well - I bought two boxes of Thomas the Tank engine toys really cheaply and they were played with for ages. "You have to get up early though - they usually start really early and if you go later on all the good stuff has been sold. "I sell clothes on ebay and I'm quite interested in Depop for buying second hand clothes. Then there are Gumtree and Preloved. "If you need something as a one off for a job interview or special occasion consider borrowing an outfit from a friend. "At the moment I'm knitting a blanket with wool from the Scrapstore - [...]

    We're taking a week's holiday this summer. Crow Recycling including the Scrapstore will close for the annual holiday at the end of the day on Friday August 16. We'll be back open again on the morning of Tuesday August 27. There's plenty of time to stock up on craft materials from the Scrapstore before we close. There are extra bags available for our office waste paper customers - just ask our van driver to drop some off. Apologies for any inconvenience.

  Schools are invited to bring a class to visit Crow Recycling in the autumn term. Free school trips will be available during the autumn term 2019 thanks to funding renewal. Crow hosts school visits on Mondays and Tuesdays, one class at a time, with each visit lasting 45 minutes to an hour. Pupils tour the warehouse and get hands on sorting paper and sorting used drinks cans. They also see can crushers and balers in action and have a go at feeding paper into industrial paper shredding and baling machines. The visits are ideal for key stage two but can be tailored for older or younger children. Crow is a registered charity set up in 1985 to provide work placements for disabled people. School visits are supervised by staff and volunteers with disclosure and barring service checks. Find our school visits page here. To sign up for e mail updates on school visits click here. To arrange a school visit e mail crow@talktalkbusiness.net.    

  Non confidential paper collections will be charged at £3.60 a bag (including VAT) now that Crow Recycling is dropping the annual registration fee. Both one off and regular collections will be £3 per 10kg bag without VAT and £3.60 per 10kg bag including VAT. Crow Recycling is dropping the annual registration fee which sees customers pay a flat fee and get the first 100 bags free. This brings the service into line with confidential collections which are charged at £5 per 10kg bag without VAT and £6 per 10kg bag with VAT. Prices including the loan of bags to store the documents and collection in Coventry, Warwickshire, Solihull and parts of Leicestershire. Contact us to find out if Crow can collect from your location. Any queries give Crow Recycling a call on 02476552444.