In Villeurbanne, repairing toys to stop long-term unemployment

Toothbrush, cloth, toothpick: the cleaning equipment is perfectly aligned on Laurence’s table. With a trained eye behind her glasses, the 56-year-old professional polishes the slightly faded cover of Timothy goes to school a children’s album recounting the adventures of a raccoon. “We only use white vinegar, a natural product. It’s important for us, but also for the children who will have it in their hands! » proudly specifies this former civil servant who returned to work three months ago, after two years without a job.

Installed in a discreet hangar in Villeurbanne, near Lyon (Rhône), Enjoué’s mission is to give a second life to the mountains of games that it collects every day. Soft toys, books, puzzles are sorted, cleaned, repaired by “recovery agents”, then packaged before being resold at knockdown prices. An ordinary reconditioning activity, except that the employees all have one thing in common: residents of Saint-Jean, a priority district marked by precariousness, they have experienced a long period of unemployment, hampered by health problems, poor housing or language.

A strong need for integration

The idea was born in 2017 from a conversation between three friends, professionals in social development and employment in the Lyon region. On the one hand, an observation made during their career: the region is marked by a strong need for integration. On the other hand, a completely different observation drawn from their daily lives as parents: because of overconsumption, too many children’s games are left aside even though they could be used again. “As no one reconditioned toys here, we said to ourselves that this was the ideal niche,” says Gilles Malandrin, co-founder and now director of the structure. A small step, according to him, to contribute both to the solidarity effort and to the protection of the planet.

Supported by the Rejoué association in the application of its refurbishment protocol, the team is also approaching the Territories zero long-term unemployed (TZCLD) system, designed by ATD Quart-monde and deployed in France since 2016. The Saint-Jean district, with an unemployment rate of more than 26% and 400 people permanently deprived of employment* out of around 4,300 inhabitants, becomes one of the territories pilots at the end of 2016. Today, 227 people have emerged from long-term joblessness since the start of the project, including around a hundred thanks to the employment enterprise (EBE) Emerjean which offers sewing, market gardening, bicycle repair, etc. But there is still a lot to do.

In 2022, Enjoué therefore in turn becomes an EBE. Its role: to launch a useful and non-competitive activity by recruiting without looking at the CV, for positions which are 95% funded by the State and the department. “We start from the principle that no one is unemployable,” summarizes Gilles Malandrin. An opportunity for Chafira. “After the bankruptcy of the company where I spent my entire career, I had to take care of my very ill dad for a year and a half, and I feared that no one would want me anymore,” says this 55-year-old mother. Trained on site, employees regularly change positions according to their desires or the schedule, from collecting toys to putting them back on the market, online, in store, or at local nurseries. A framework that helps employees, not always familiar with the company’s codes, to specialize, to evolve, or even to project themselves elsewhere, we recall at Enjoué.

No race for profitability

At the origin of the “TZCLD” experiment, an intuition: long-term unemployment costs society more than the creation of subsidized jobs. Enjoué therefore does not race for profitability but seeks to remain in balance. Which does not prevent it from growing, recalls its director: from 12 recycling agents in 2021, it increased to 44 in 2026, and 15,000 toys were processed this year, compared to 4,000 at start-up.

A “real company”, therefore wishes to emphasize Mounia, 48 years old, but not only that. Originally from Morocco, where she obtained a bac +4 which was never really valued in France, she arrived two years ago and is now preparing to train to join human resources: “It is here that I regained confidence in myself. »