Recycled Timber Gets Donated to Local Charity

Normally we receive calls from people wanting their waste collected, not asking if they can come and pick it up, but that’s what happened when Tools For Self Reliance got in touch and enquired about waste timber.

Tools for Self Reliance work with local African organisations to deliver tools and training to disadvantaged communities in Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia. They run vocational training projects which provide people with the skills they need to set up their own business and they also equip them with a toolkit to get them started. As well as technical training in trades such as carpentry, welding, and bricklaying, they also provide training in business and financial management.

They struggle every month to provide timber to their volunteers to make the crates that they send the tools in - which is where we came in. We receive thousands of tonnes of waste timber on site each year which is usually shredded to supply as waste-to-energy but we were delighted to be able to offer some of it to this very worthy cause.

Philip Liddell, Managing Director of Ace Liftaway commented ‘Tools for Self Reliance support sustainable livelihoods which is very much in line with Ace Liftaway’s mission to encourage sustainability by recycling 90% of the waste that comes on site. By supplying the timber that the charity needs to send over the 25,000 tools per year to Africa, we are not only helping communities to prosper but also we are taking our recycling remit to a whole new level’.

Sarah Ingleby, Chief Executive of Tools for Self Reliance, said “Our strapline as a charity is “practical help for practical people” and this support from Ace Liftaway makes a very real and practical difference, enabling our volunteers to build the crates for tools which will go on to provide someone with a livelihood – it is much appreciated.”

We have now created a designated area for Tools for Self Reliance to come and collect waste timber off-cuts and will be working closely with them to provide as much timber to them as possible.