A volunteer at a Wandsworth re-use charity has been recognised for her dedication at the Wandsworth Civic Awards.

Teresa Reeve has been one of the longest-serving volunteers at Work and Play Scrapstore (WaPS). The charity promotes the artful re-use of donated surplus waste materials.

Teresa scooped 31 other nominees to win the 2018 award, which aims to honour unsung community champions.

The citation reads: “Teresa Reeve is a true community champion. For 25 years Teresa has given up her free time as an unpaid volunteer to work for the Work and Play Scrapstore.

“Teresa is someone who has been described as prepared to do anything that’s required for the charity; whether it’s sorting and upcycling donated goods, driving a car to collect donations, stocking shelves, or making beautiful home-made crafts to help with fundraising. No job is too small for her and it’s always done with a smile.

“She supports and helps train new volunteers and has been a guiding light in the charity - that is so reliant on its volunteers - for more than two decades. Last year, unprompted, Teresa created a detailed storyboard of the charity's history to help it celebrate its 30th birthday and the Work and Play Scrapstore simply would not be half the success it is without Teresa as an essential part of the volunteer team."

The judging panel comprised Mayor Piers McCausland, Councillor Cook, Deputy Mayor, Deputy Mayor Councillor Jane Cooper and Councillor Fleur Anderson.

“We are delighted that Teresa has been recognised for the amazing work she does for Scrapstore,” said WaPS chairman Patrick Moon. “She makes such a positive impact on all those around her and it’s wonderful to be able to rely on her insights and experience.”

The charity relies exclusively on volunteers to help sort and re-purpose waste collected from green-minded companies, thereby diverting it from landfill and the incinerator. Last year, Scrapstore diverted an estimated 37.282 tonnes of waste away from landfill or incineration, up from 31.896 tonnes the previous year, representing a 17 percent year-on-year increase.

Last year Scrapstore recorded 530 working days from volunteers, which is consistent with previous years.