With the help of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Refurbiz was set up last November to divert waste electrical goods from the dump, refurbish them, and pass them on at low or no cost to disadvantaged people through the Wiltshire network of furniture recyclers.

The group has been awarded £300,000 from the Community, Recycling and Economic Development Fund (CRED), which distributes money from the New Opportunities Fund of the National Lottery.

Refurbiz now has to find equal funding to access the money from CRED.

"To be granted this money is a huge achievement for us. To find an equal sum of money will be an even greater challenge. But it must be done because we have to cut the amount of waste electrical goods being dumped in landfill sites ahead of August, when a new European directive becomes law in the UK," says Refurbiz project officer Ken Brown.

Every year Wiltshire throws away a staggering 9,600 tonnes of electrical goods - that's equivalent to 68 double-decker busloads of electrical items being dumped into big holes in the ground every month. Ken says Refurbiz could cut this amount by up to 30 per cent within the next two years.

Refurbiz will screen the goods, restore those that can be mended and then pass them on to recycling charity groups who will sell them at low cost to people on means tested benefits. Items that are beyond repair will be stripped down to reusable components, and any bits left over will go to scrap dealers for recycling.

Ken urges householders to contact the following recycling charities to have their used and reusable electrical goods collected. These will then be passed on to Refurbiz.

• Calne & north Wiltshire Genesis 01249 822282
• Chippenham & North Wiltshire Waste Not Want Not 1249 447140
• Devizes & Kennet Kennet Furniture Recycling 01380 720722
• Salisbury & south Wiltshire Burnbake Trust 01722 743727
• Swindon Top Drawer 01793 536613
• Scamp (computers only) 01793 484654
• Trowbridge & West Wiltshire Group 01225 764849

"There is such a demand for these items from people who cannot even afford to buy second hand goods at normal rates, that we are only able to supply about 5% of these people. The minute a cooker or fridge or TV comes in, it is snapped up," says Ken.