Rotarians were kept busy last weekend at the V Festivals at Weston Park, Staffordshire and Hylands Park, Chelmsford, collecting camping equipment for reuse and running a bottle exchange to raise money for End Polio Now.
At Weston Park, the Rotary Club of Bloxwich Phoenix and Rotary Club of Brewood and District joined 500 volunteers to collect tents and other camping gear to send to countries where the equipment can be used again. As thousands of festival goers packed up and headed home, the Rotarians sprang into action, collecting thousands of abandoned tents, deckchairs, sleeping bags and items of clothing.
The collected items were then loaded onto a truck for transportation to the International Aid Trust where it is sorted, cleaned and packed for distribution to where it is needed. Many of the items will go to children’s summer camps in various parts of the world.
Rotarian Keith Gater, who helped organise the clean up said that between 3,000 and 5,000 tents were expected to be left behind by festival goers. He added: “It is hard work but we do this every year and everyone joins in to help. It is great that the camping gear can be collected and used again by needy people instead of being thrown away.”
[IMG: 2230 border=”0″ alt=”plastic bottles” align=”left” width=”180″ height=”135″]At Hylands Park, enterprising Rotarians in the Chelmsford area spotted an opportunity to fundraise when they realised that glass bottles were not allowed on site.The 45 Rotarians set up and ran a bottle exchange stall, decanting drinks which would otherwise be confiscated, from glass bottles into plastic ones for £1 a time. They also partnered with a local hairdressing salon which set up a stall to wash festival goers hair, raising a total of over £2,300 for End Polio Now.
