Last year Egremont Fire Station were crowned champions when they staved off competition from hundreds of UK fire stations to win our January textile recycling competition, Bag it and Bank it, for the fifth consecutive year.
In just one month the team from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service collected a whopping 11,334 KG of clothing and textiles.
A Fire Fighters Charity Textile Clothes Recycling Bank
With the 2020 competition now underway, Egremont Crew Manager David McDowell, who is also a Charity Station Rep, is quick to point out that success comes from hard work and a number of important factors.
“It [fundraising] is about the support of the station and local community,” he said. “There are others here who have done some incredible work and come up with some great ideas for helping, like Crew Manager Andrew Hinde. He came up with the idea of using social media to raise awareness. He also arranged local pick-ups from care homes – allowing elderly residents who are unable to get to the recycling bank to support the Charity – and approached the local hospital who gave us some of their redundant textiles.”
David continued; “Firefighter Anthony Marshall, meanwhile, arranged for additional Brownrigg support vehicles to collect textiles on two of our biggest collection dates. And we’ve had fantastic support from our local schools too. So there is some great work that goes on across the station and all that we do is achieved because we work together as a team.”
Each year you help us to raise £500,000 from textiles recycling and this year we are hoping that, with your help, we can raise £70,000 from textile recycling in January alone.
So here are Egremont Fire Station’s top 5 tips to help you on your way:
1. Get social
Make sure you promote your recycling bank on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). Keep on posting photos and continue to push all through the month of January.
Download social media graphics and posters here.
2. Back up
Get the support of your station. Without this it will be very hard to succeed.
3. Recruit the press
Get the support of your local media. Contact local TV channels and papers and tell them what you are doing and why.
4. Engage your community
Engage with your local community and let them know your station has a textile recycling bank on-site.
5. Go back to school
Approach local schools. Ask them to arrange collections and get involved by helping in any way they can!
For more information on our Bag it and Bank textiles recycling competition click here.
