Investment firm Zinc is delighted to support south London charity Ahoy, preventing unwanted items going to landfill

As we came out of the pandemic, a planned move to a new, fully-furnished central London office finally became a reality for Zinc, a for-good venture capital group. With a focus on building new companies that solve the developed world’s toughest social issues, Zinc was adamant that its move would not result in anything going to landfill.

‘Our fourth mission, that we are starting later in the year, will focus on minimising the harm which we do to the environment. It was important that our unwanted items did not go to waste’. Fran Marsden, Zinc

A helping hand from A Good Thing

Before she came across A Good Thing, Fran Marsden, Senior Associate at Zinc, had been looking to find a new home for a set of chairs. She had contacted a couple of charities directly, but to no avail.

‘As it was quite bulky furniture and in a large lot, it was difficult to find someone who was in need of such items.’

Having seen a post about A Good Thing shared on LinkedIn, Fran quickly set up an account, listed the items and very rapidly had a response.

Social media spreading the word

Dan O’Sullivan from the Ahoy Centre also found out about A Good Thing by browsing social media. This time, a Facebook post caught his attention:

‘It all happened so quickly. I saw one of your early posts explaining that you were starting up, and charities were welcome to engage. We’re a charity and we love a freebie! We have been hit hard financially during the pandemic, and we want to spend any funding we receive on our benefactors.’

The 19-year-old Ahoy Centre is a busy watersports charity on the banks of the River Thames in south-east London. It works primarily with disadvantaged, at-risk youth and people with disabilities. Using the medium of rowing and sailing, the Ahoy Centre provides alternative education and qualifications, which create routes into employment and further education.

‘We provide access to sports that people don’t believe they could do, like rowing and sailing. In some cases, these young people have never seen the river before, despite living within a few hundred metres of it. The thing that really sets us apart is the busy-ness of the Thames: we have clippers, tugboats, waves… and sometimes even a shopping trolley to contend with!’

Refurbishing a busy office

Dan explained that the centre’s office is a busy space with many different people coming and going throughout the day. They were desperately in need of some new chairs, but spending money in this way is not a priority:

‘We’re always looking for inventive ways to give better equipment to our staff and volunteers.’

The new chairs that the charity received from Zinc have replaced old chairs that were no longer fit for purpose, and are providing a refreshed and comfortable working environment.

‘The whole process has been easy. A huge thank you to Zinc and A Good Thing! I will be keeping a close eye on the app for future donations.’

Find out how you can do A Good Thing, here!