Fressingfield Stores is boxing clever to help charity

Thinking outside the box will soon be providing people in need with extra support, while helping to increase recycling, in what is a neatly packaged win-win for all involved.

Fressingfield Stores has been trialling a cardboard collection service for the past six months and is now implementing the changes across the board.

Collection cages are available in front of the shop, while a machine has been donated by Mardon Group to help compress the boxes for ease of storage and transport.

It is hoped that any person or business, whose recycling bins are full, will take their excess cardboard to the shop, which will be crushed alongside the store’s own cardboard, before being exchanged with 3B recycling for a small financial return.

This money will all be donated to Fressingfield Family Trust – a newly formed charity, which will offer support to neighbouring families in need who might be struggling to pay for food or school uniforms.

Roger Keen, who runs the shop with his wife, Claire, said: “It’s a new service, which will help prevent cardboard going in to landfill, while also raising a little bit of money to help families who are struggling with the cost of living.

“We had a soft launch for the past six months but now, with Christmas just around the corner, it seemed like the perfect time to launch it fully and, if it’s successful, it would be great to see the idea replicated elsewhere.

“Mardon Group donated the machine to compress the donations, and we have people and businesses dropping off cardboard every week, so there has been a good response.”