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Working closely with two external companies has helped the waste management team raise £1k for Strathcarron Hospice for the second year in a row.

Since 2016, the waste team has passed old IT products, including laptops and PCs, handed into Kinneil Kerse and Roughmute Recycling Centres, to Re-tek UK Ltd and Valpak for recycling.

Once the data held on the devices is safely erased by the companies, all functional equipment is sold to the reseller market. Any products that are fully functional, but have no resale value, are then donated to charity partners. The remaining products are responsibly recycled, fully avoiding landfill activities.

For the past two years, all proceeds from the sale of the recycled equipment, plus additional monetary donations from Re-tek and Valpak, have been donated to Strathcarron Hospice. The £1k donated this year will pay for two days of care for one person in the hospice’s in-patient unit.

Three refurbished Samsung tablets were also donated by Re-tek UK Ltd this year. These will enable patients to keep in touch with loved ones and with hospice staff, allowing them to express vital choices regarding their care should speech become a problem.

Claire Macdonald, Business Development Fundraiser, Strathcarron Hospice, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the teams at Falkirk Council, Re-Tek and Valpak for their continued support of Strathcarron Hospice. As an independent hospice, we need to raise over £12,900 a day to keep our services running, and we rely on the continued support of our local community in order to make this possible. The money raised will help to make a meaningful difference to local people and their families at a most difficult time while the tablets will enrich the lives of our patients.”

John Kirkhope, Waste Services Co-ordinator, said: “Strathcarron Hospice provides a vital service to the local community, offering outstanding care and support to patients and their families. That is why we decided to donate all the proceeds raised through this initiative to them. We would encourage anyone with old IT equipment to bring it along to one of our recycling centres safe in the knowledge that all data will be erased using government approved software, and any proceeds from the re-sell of the equipment will ultimately help a local charity.”  

Pic (left to right): Billy McPherson, Projects Director, Re-tek, John Kirkhope, Claire Macdonald, Business Development Fundraiser, Strathcarron Hospice, Paul McCaig, Account manager, Valpak, and Cllr Paul Garner.