First up, love Vinnies. Love the work they do. Love how much they help the vulnerable in society.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It's a shame two much-loved institutions in Canberra - The Green Shed and the St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn - were pitted against each other in the fight for an ACT government recycling/reselling contract.
The Green Shed is a private business owned by Charlie Bigg-Wither and Sandie Parkes.
For more than a decade, it has held the government contract to take donated goods that would otherwise end up in landfill and resell them.
They had The Green Shed depots at the Mugga Lane and Mitchell tips where people could drop off their donated items or have a rummage through the vast array of items, from bikes to vintage suitcases to DVDs.
It was a big shock this week when Mr Bigg-Wither announced on social media The Green Shed had not been successful in its latest tender application and 84 staff, as a result, would be out of a job.
Vinnies, instead, had won the tender to run the Mugga Lane and Mitchell "reusable facilities" and would take over from May 1.
Mr Bigg-Wither and Ms Parkes said they would also be closing their city op-shops, The Green Shed Shop and The Green Shed Underground, as the stock for those came from the Mugga Lane and Mitchell depots.
St Vincent's has said the depots will continue to operate throughout the transition and it would encourage The Green Shed employees to apply for jobs with Vinnies, saying current depot staff would be rehired.
Before The Green Shed, recycling and reselling was done by Revolve, which had formed in 1988. Change is nothing new.
But The Green Shed does have a special place in the heart of many Canberrans.
The people who work in the shops and depots are not volunteers, but paid staff. They are passionate, smart and community-minded. The ladies who've worked for years at The Green Shed Shop said last week they were like a local library, sometimes people came in just to be. To say hello. To wander around. They lamented Civic would be losing out, that customers came in to find a cooking utensil that was discontinued or some unique gift that couldn't be found in a chain store.
Maybe people loved The Green Shed because it was a little bit daggy. It wasn't zhooshed to the nth degree. Its op shops had soul. The depots weren't fancy. You just got in there and had a look around for what you wanted. Or what you didn't know you wanted. And the prices were reasonable.
Maybe people loved The Green Shed because it was owned by local people. People who were a little bit artistic and not at all corporate. Charlie was known for decorating their home in Turner with a tonne of LEGO. They commissioned an artist to make an interactive sculpture from bikes that couldn't be sold at The Green Shed and plonked it on their front lawn, allowing anyone who went by to give it a go.
They raised more than $2 million for charity, including for Roundabout Canberra in the annual huge Lego sale.
Its staff definitely loved The Green Shed. Apart from being paid well and feeling supported, they felt safe. One worker at the Mugga Lane depot said it was "where all the misfits fit".
Charlie Bigg-Wither says he doesn't want a fight. He just wants the best for his staff. And for the community to keep doing what The Green Shed was set up to do - to keep as much material out of landfill as possible.
In that respect, he wishes Vinnies all the best in its endeavours.