As part of our ongoing commitment to minimising our business’s impact on the environment, we encourage our staff to come up with innovative ideas and solutions to reduce waste, however it may arise.
Recently, staff at Westbridge were challenged with the problem of how to ethically dispose of over 800 mattress toppers after a change in customer requirements. Rather than let them go to landfill or become part of a textile recycling process which would consume further energy and resources, they contacted local charities and offered them, free of charge, to be used in a number of ways.
Here are some of the charities and end users that have benefitted from the initiative:
The Wallich is a homelessness charity in Wales. They intend to make use of the sleeping bags in their emergency accommodation in Flintshire and in their supported accommodation in Wrexham, or when individuals move on and need additional layers to fend off the cold. Shian Thomas, Service Manager emailed Westbridge to thank them for their generosity:
“I would like to thank Westridge for their kind donation of the 100 sleeping bags to The Wallich Homeless Charity”
Share is a charity based in Mold which supports families in crisis and people who are homeless in North Wales and Cheshire and also assists refugees fleeing for their lives, wherever they are in the world. On receiving a donation of the mattress toppers, this was their reaction:
We are absolutely blown away by the very generous donation this week, from Westbridge Furniture, Deeside of 100 sleeping bags. These are perfect for the families that we support. A very big thank you to everyone involved at Westbridge, many of our service users will be warm and snug this winter because of your incredible kindnes
Clocktower Enterprises CIC were also grateful recipients of a number of the mattress toppers. Here’s what their Operations and Projects Director said:
“On behalf of everyone at the Clocktower CIC I would like to thank you so much for the sleeping bags. Our adults with profound learning difficulties and autism will make great use of them and they will go a long, long way, we are very grateful for your kind generosity. Thank you again.”
Other beneficiaries include The Salvation Army, ResourceRenew, based in Holyhead and Save the Family, a Chester-based charity caring for the homeless and families at risk of becoming homeless who have multiple and complex needs.
A huge vote of thanks needs to be passed on to the team at Westbridge for coordinating this outstanding effort which underlines Belfield’s commitment to both minimising our impact on the environment and to caring for the communities within which we operate.
