Le Relais

Non Profit ID card: present your project/organisation/campaign

Questions answered by Marie Flodrops, Head of Communications, Le Relais.

– Where are you based? The parent company of Le Relais is in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais region. 

– What are you called? Le Relais. 

– What are you doing and why? Le Relais is a corporate group of socio-economic enterprises affiliated to Emmaüs France, which fights against social exclusion and job insecurity by creating job insertion and long lasting jobs for people in need. In order to achieve this, Le Relais has mainly developed an activity of collection and recycling of clothing, shoes and linen. This is an activity that creates many unskilled jobs. Other activities allow Le Relais to fight against all kinds of poverty: manufacture of paint, work on demand, social housing, temporary job insertion… 

–  Do you have a website? www.lerelais.org.

– Do you have a Twitter/facebook link/name? Le Relais, l’entreprise autrement.

– What makes you so special? Le Relais has been creating an employment per week since 1984. Being an actor of the social and the ethical economy, Le Relais has been able to combine social utility, economic performance and environmental protection. Since its creation, the organization is commited to promoting a different model of enterprise: the socio-economic enterprise. This model of enterprise is based on principles of transparency, of participatory democracy, where the employees are the owners of the enterprise and vote for their managers. At Le Relais, economy is at the service of men! Le Relais also develops its activities in Africa, to foster co-development and effective outsourcing. Profits gained in Burkina Faso, Madagascar and Senegal are reinvested into projects of local development. 

 

The turning point

– How did you start? At the beginning of the eighties the community Emmaüs de Bruay la Buissière was coping with a great number of young people in precarious situations. In order to find solutions and to help them reintegrate into the job market, the people in charge of the community founded the association Le Relais in 1984. Le Relais first took over a paint factory (Lyd France) before fully engaging, since 1985, in activities of collection and recycling of used textiles, for which manpower is very much asked. At the beginning of the nineties many reports gave media coverage to the movement and new structures spread on the territory. In the same period Le Relais developed Interinser 62, an enterprise for temporary work integration and Les Toits de l’Espoir, research centre to fight poor housing. 

– Who is your target? This form of social integration through work is not aimed at a particular category. Every person in a precarious situation can work at Le Relais. Lots of attention is given to young people but also to women because there are few of them in the field of social integration. 

– How are you financed? Le Relais has developed its activities with the aim of being economically independent and of not depending from external funding. In spite of this, Le Relais receives financial support through state-subsidised jobs for people in difficulty. Then there are aids that are accessible to every kind of economic enterprises (aid to economic development, aid to research and to development….). This represents 5% of the global turnover. Besides, since the establishment of the environmental textile contribution in 2009, Le Relais also receives a contribution by the organization Eco TLC. 

 

The challenge

– A proud moment? In 2009, Le Relais received the social entrepreneur award, organized by the Schwab Foundation and the Boston Consulting Group. The award supports 25 years of fight against poverty and represents a true recognition for Le Relais.  

– A problem you face? The increase of unemployment and of job insecurity.   

–  Your personal motto when things get hard? “They didn’t know it was impossible… …so they did it anyway” (Mark Twain).

  www.lerelais.org

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