20/01/12 Green Santa Event - Age concern benefits

Alison Sollis, Mary Kennet, Cllr Marion Ring and Alisa Maguire

Maidstone Borough Council, along with Age UK are saying a huge thank you to all those who donated to the successful Green Santa Event last week.

The council’s waste team spoke to more than 200 people each day about waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

Donated unwanted Christmas presents or good quality items placed in the Green Santa Sleigh were collected for one of the Mayors Charities, Age UK. The unwanted gifts included everything from address books to cheeseboards.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Cllr Marion Ring, said: “The event attracted a lot of interest and put across an important message that we all need to play our part at reducing and reusing the amount of waste produced and if it can provide much need funds to local charities all the better. We hope to hold the event next year supporting yet another local charity.”

Mary Kennet, Shop Manager of Age UK in Gabriels Hill said: “For Age UK the Green Santa event was a fantastic success. Not only an increase in donations up by 25%, but the number of sales (compared this with the corresponding week last year) were up 64%, an increase of £768 for the week.”

“The funds raised from the Age UK Charity shop are used for a wide variety of purposes; this could be from buying a new kettle for one of the Day Centres to helping towards the purchase of the much needed mini buses. If the public continue to donate their unwanted clothes, gifts, toys and bric-a-brac we will be able to carry on raising more funds for the elderly people of Maidstone.

“Don't discard, donate. If we cannot resell it, we recycle and can take unwanted small electrical appliances, mobile phones, electrical cable, metal and paper. All of these can be turned into money going through our tills and helping the elderly residents of Maidstone Borough.”

The Green Santa Event is just one of Maidstone Borough Council’s waste awareness campaigns helping us another step nearer to reducing total household waste arisings by 10% by 2015. It is hoped that this will become an annual event to provide a waste reuse message, while supporting Maidstone charities.

For more information on reducing, reusing and recycling your waste in the New Year visit maidstone.gov.uk, email the customer services team at customerservices@maidstone.gov.uk or call 01622 602600.

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