LET’S COLOUR

Investing in our future

Some of our most heart-warming Let’s Colour projects were developed to help paint a better future for the next generation. By partnering with the Volunteer It Yourself charity, we’ve been able to support young people aged 14 to 24 at risk of disengagement or exclusion from mainstream education and training. The programme adopts a brilliant, win-win approach: VIY learners are mentored by local professional tradespeople to help refurbish youth and community facilities in need of essential repairs so the young volunteers can learn vocational trade skills on the job. 

VIY has been working with Dulux for over four years through Dulux’s ‘Let’s Colour’ initiative which is dedicated to bringing communities together through the power of paint by working closely with partner organisations. Since July 2020, this partnership has positively impacted communities, with over 120,000 lives positively impacted through transforming over 200+ community spaces using donated Dulux Trade paint. These projects have successfully supported and developed over 3,000 young people aged 14-24 through taking part. They have also helped train over 2,360 young people in painting and decorating, including over 2,000 City & Guilds accreditations earned with over half of these in painting and decorating.

The 200^th ‘Let’s Colour’ project with VIY took place on Wednesday, 16^th October 2024 at Winchmore Hill Youth Football Club in Enfield, North London. This involved 40 AkzoNobel volunteers and VIY mentors to breathe new life into the club by giving it a new coat of paint, donated by Dulux. The project also included 16 young people volunteering who are all at risk of disengagement and were referred from VIY’s local youth partners including ESOL students from ELATT college and the Boxing Academy, an alternative provision for young people. 75% of the young volunteers achieved a City & Guilds Entry Level 3 accreditation in painting and decorating. The positive impact left by the project aims to drive inclusion, particularly female and disabled participation, by improving the eight changing facilities on site.

Additionally, for 15 years, we’ve been supporting the Outward Bound Trust, helping to fund this educational charity that takes young, often disadvantaged, people on outdoor adventures to help them change their perspective and improve their resilience and confidence.

Giving back – with paint

It’s estimated that every household has up to 17 unused tins of paint in their shed or garage, which adds up to approximately 50 million litres headed to landfill or incineration. Community RePaint.

is on a mission to change all that, and we’ve been collaborating with them for over 30 years. Their network comprises 70 local schemes around the UK that collect leftover paint and redistribute it at very low cost to charities, community groups and those in social need.