In the dark days of the late 80s, recycling wasn't number one priority for LBWF - in fact, it probably wasn't even in the top ten. But environmentalism was on the rise - the Borough had very active green voluntary organisations - WF Friends of the Earth, WF Greenpeace - and the political scene was changing too, leading to the 15% vote for the Green Party in the 1989 Euro elections. Despite this, there was a growing feeling that if the Council weren't going to do much then perhaps it was up to us to do it ourselves.

During the spring and summer of '89 the business idea started to take shape - we contacted the Council's Economic Development Unit and they made us a small grant in order to carry out a feasibility study. It was the start of a long and fruitful relationship with the EDU who helped us enormously. By October we were in business.

In 1991 FRP produced the first guide to recycling facilities in the Borough - the Council had expanded the range of materials which could be recycled at their Civic Amenity sites and they'd also installed a number of mini-recycling sites.

Our first Give or Take day was held in September 1996. Basically we'd collected a load of stuff during the year which eventually cluttered up the warehouse so much that we'd need to clear it out.

The paint recycling scheme (Re>Paint Waltham Forest) began in 1997. Last year, 2005, we gave away over �20,000 worth of paint to local groups and individuals. We are on target to beat that by a great margin this year.

During 1999 our Give or Take Days took off in a big way. The idea is simple - hire a space for a day, invite people to come along with stuff that they don't want any longer and while they're there, take away stuff they do want. FRP organises and publicises the events, collect large items such as wardrobes and beds beforehand and take care of deliveries afterwards. In May of 2005 the Give or Take web site was launched and is very popular.

Tha last 2 years has seen FRP grow enormously. We now employ 6 staff and have around 20 volunteers. The number of projects we run has increased too, and now includes FRP-REUSEiT which started in October 2005