Recycle, shop online & donate to The Firefighters Charity

One of my top highlights of 2014 was visiting the Houses of Parliament in May to help launch the first ever UK Hoarding Awareness Week, organised by the Hoarding Working Group of the Chief Fire Officers Association, of which I'm a member.  

As a result I'm also now working closely with Surrey Fire & Rescue Service, which has well and truly opened my eyes and given me a much greater understanding and appreciation of the extraordinary lengths the Fire & Rescue Services (FRS) go to to try and prevent fires and accidents, as well as fight them.

Neenaw! Just £5.00 buys a toy fire engine

Which is why I'm doing my bit to support The Fire Fighters Charity, not only by buying Christmas cards and gifts from them, but also by promoting their recycling services - something very relevant to decluttering!

Things like textile recycling, door to door clothing collections, and printer cartridge recycling helps them raise money towards the £9 million pounds per year it costs to support serving and retired members of the fire and rescue community when they are in need. 

For example, the charity runs three rehabilitation and recouperation centres; a help-line; a magazine; health, well being and welfare services, plus local support for people in their homes.

So please help me help our brave firefighters and their families by giving a donation, buying something from their online shop, or depositing your unwanted items at Fire Fighters Charity textile banks at fire stations, community sites and supermarkets across the UK (they're bright yellow with the Charity's logo on them so you can't miss them!).  Enter your postcode here (scroll down to get to the table) to find your nearest bank.

With your help we can make life easier for the wonderful people who help protect and save us, and help recycle and re-use our planet's precious resources at the same time.

Thank you.

Cherry 

Recycling, repurposing & upcycling ideas on Pinterest - Xmas tree decorations

We may only be 8 days away from the longest day, and it may only be 195 days (or 6 months 13 days) to Christmas, but the weather is ridiculously cold and the central heating keeps turning itself on automatically, so you could be forgiven for thinking winter was here already!

To cheer you up, here's an idea that will save you money on Xmas decorations, and is ideal for when you need something keep the kids occupied indoors (or even in the tent or caravan) while it's raining and miserable outside!

Click on this link to Rainbow Red's Pinterest page, to learn how to make these cheap, easy-to-assemble Xmas tree decorations out of recycled cards, wrapping paper or even magazines/newspapers!

And while you're there, check out loads of other great recycling, repurposing and upcycling ideas - plus some fantastic organising and storage solutions - on Rainbow Red's other Pinterest pages.

 

Decluttering Workshop - 20th October - Leatherhead Institute

On Saturday 20th October, Lynda Wylie of Tidy Rooms and Cherry Rudge of Rainbow Red gave a hugely successful decluttering workshop in Leatherhead. 
 

The event was hosted by local environmental campaigning Groups from the Transition Network(Ashtead and Bookham) - plus Leatherhead Residents' Association. 

A packed house of around 80 people learned useful hints tips about on how to declutter their homes, upcycling, repurposing, recycling, and other environmentally friendly ways to get rid of unwanted items.

Guest speaker Barbara Unsworth - Manager of the QEF Charity Shop in Shepperton - explained about the wide variety of things that the shops can recycle if they can't be sold in the shop.

Everyone took home a Useful Information Sheet which Cherry and Lynda created, and which is now available on the Transition Ashtead Website.

Delicious refreshments were served, and proceeds from the afternoon were donated to Leatherhead-based group the Friends of Teazle Wood.

Lynda and Cherry are Members of The Association of Professional Decluttererers & Organisers UK (apdo-uk), whose Members are required to abide by a strict Code of Conduct.  Cherry is also apdo-uk's Marketing Officer. 

 

Further decluttering workshops are planned in the North West Surrey and South West London area - to make an enquiry or a booking please contact Cherry on 07931 303310.

 

To find a professional declutterer near you, check out the apdo-uk website, or call 020 8123 4591(leave a message and someone will call you back).

 

 

A big thank you to Rainbow Red's clients

Left to right: 
Cherry Rudge (Rainbow Red);
Cassie Tillett (apdo-uk);
Debbie Conibere - 1st Weybridge 

Debbie Conibere, Fundraising Co-ordinator of 1st Weybridge Scout Troop (the oldest scouting group in Surrey) has thanked Rainbow Red's clients who kindly contributed around 20 dustbin bags of textiles, towards their recent HQ Renovation Appeal.


Textile Recycling company Phil The Bag confirmed that 1st Weybridge had broken all records, by collecting an astounding 4 tonnes (1000 bags) of assorted clothing, bags, bed linen, towels, curtains, etc from local Elmbridge residents.  




And still the trollies come!



Debbie Conibere (1st Weybridge Scouts);
Lionel Smith (Storage Pod),
Cherry Rudge (Rainbow Red)





Loading in progress



 

A big wave and a smile from the volunteer loaders - job done!





Any Brown of Radio Wey











 For more information about 1st Weybridge's HQ Restoration Appeal, check out their website http://1stweybridgescouts.org.uk/save-our-scout-hut/

Or call Debbie Conibere on 01932 599560 (before 8pm) or 07931 945282.

Email: debbie@1stweybridgescouts.org.uk