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Waste management and recycling company Reconomy has launched its third annual Christmas video, which this year focuses on the company’s recent campaign of community volunteering activities.

Entitled ‘Reconomy’s Acts of Christmas Kindness’, the video follows staff members as they participate in a wide range of community engagement projects in and around Telford, where Reconomy is based. As part of Reconomy’s Sustainability Strategy, each employee can take advantage of a fully paid day of volunteering, enabling them to give something back to the local community.

• More than 90 members of staff took part in a variety of activities in the run-up to Christmas, which included:
• Walking rescue dogs at Hilbrae Rescue Kennels;
• Helping to maintain the gardens at Telford’s Severn Hospice;
• Taking part in litter picks on Stafford Park and The Wrekin, with the support of Telford and Wrekin Council’s Street Champions;
• Wrapping presents in Telford Shopping Centre to raise money for Hope House Children’s Hospice;
• Supporting the creation of a community Santa’s Grotto at Telford’s Exotic Zoo, the proceeds of which will go towards a new sensory garden and fund therapy animals; and
• Clearing storage space for homeless charity, The Shrewsbury Ark.

Reconomy is also supporting West Midlands charity, 4 Steps To A Smile, which provides Christmas presents to vulnerable children across the region. Reconomy initially committed to purchasing multiple presents as a corporate donation, however 4 Steps To A Smile quickly captured the imagination of Reconomy’s workforce. Over 70 members of the Reconomy team decided to buy presents themselves, at their own expense. This boosted the number of Christmas gifts donated by the company to nearly 200.

Portsmouth-based waste management company, Helistrat, and King’s Lynn-based, Network Waste – both part of the Reconomy group of companies – have also organised their own volunteering activities. The Helistrat team helped to dish up hundreds of warm meals at The Real Junk Food Project in Brighton, which is reducing food waste by preparing and serving surplus food to anyone wishing to eat. Network Waste sent volunteers to the Purfleet Trust homeless charity in King’s Lynn, helping to tidy their new premises and contributing to their ‘hope wall’ mural.

Diane Crowe, Head of Sustainability and Social Value at Reconomy, said: “Community engagement is a key value of our Sustainability Strategy and we’ve had a hugely positive response from our employees wanting to volunteer. We’re proud to have supported some wonderful organisations in the run-up to Christmas, and these relationships will continue into 2019.”

You can find out more about Reconomy on the company’s website.