Cambridgeshire Paint Recycling Social Enterprise Wins £400,000 National Lottery Grant

BBC Business reported Friday that a Cambridgeshire social enterprise focused on recycled paint and repurposed materials has secured a £400,000 National Lottery grant to fund its growth. The award goes to Remo, based in the Fenland town of March, roughly 90 miles north of London.

A Life-Changing Sum for a Small Operation

Development director Nikki Digiovanni described the funding as a “game changer” for Remo. The money will be distributed across five years, giving the organisation sustained capacity to hire additional staff. Digiovanni told the BBC the funding would also allow the enterprise to open seven days a week, up from its current schedule. The expanded hours could meaningfully improve access for working households operating on tight budgets.

Background: Born From Personal Experience With Housing Costs

Remo has been operating for roughly two decades. Its origins trace partly to Digiovanni’s own experience with housing insecurity and the high price of home decoration. She lived in temporary accommodation as a younger person, where residents were barred from decorating. When she eventually moved into a permanent home, she found even basic paint unaffordable on a single income. She took on a second job just to cover the cost of refreshing her walls. That personal frustration helped shape Remo’s model, which offers recycled paint at a fraction of the retail price. The BBC noted that rising costs on the high street are pushing more shoppers toward affordable alternatives, a dynamic Digiovanni says is driving new interest in Remo’s stock.

Also Read: What Is the National Lottery Community Fund and How Does It Award Grants?

What Remo Offers Beyond Paint

The facility is more than a paint depot. It houses a woodwork shop, a pottery studio, and a digital lounge, giving the local community space to learn practical skills alongside sourcing cheap materials. The model combines waste reduction with direct cost-of-living support. Used paint that would otherwise end up in landfill is collected, processed, and resold at accessible prices. That circular approach has drawn attention from lottery funders looking to back community-led sustainability projects.

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What Comes Next for Remo

With the five-year funding window now confirmed, Remo’s leadership plans to hire staff and formalise its expanded opening hours. The grant represents one of the more significant awards a small Fenland enterprise of this type has received. Community recycling projects across England will likely watch the outcome closely as they seek their own funding cases.

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