FIRE fighters have praised the generosity of local people in helping them raise nearly £100,000 from the donation of unwanted clothing.

Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service has collected more than 482 tonnes of unwanted clothing from its Fire Fighters Charity recycling banks over the last ten years, equating to nearly £98,000 in value.

The service says the clothing, which was made available for resale, re-use and recycling, has helped to provide "the maximum benefit possible" to worthy causes, including firefighters who themselves need welfare support.

The achievement was flagged in the Fire Fighters Charity’s latest Clothes Recycling Performance Report, which announced that nearly £5 million of unwanted clothing has been donated to fire stations across UK in the ten years up to March 2021.

The report shows that clothes recycling for The Fire Fighters Charity has seen 10 years of steady growth, generating £4.6million across the UK over this period - diverting more than 26,000 tonnes of unwanted clothing from landfill.

Clothing, shoes, handbags and textiles donated as part of the scheme are collected by the charity’s recycling partners, enabling wearable clothing to be re-used and usually finding its way abroad to benefit communities in under-developed countries.

Any unwearable textiles are recycled into a range of items including industrial wipers and car upholstery, as well as being re-used in the production of scores of other items.

The income generated for the charity from textile recycling helps fund the physical, psychological and welfare support it provides to firefighters across UK who turn to the charity for help, after their many years of dedicated support to the public whenever called on.

Group Commander Martin Lown, HWFRS’s Fire Fighters Charity lead, said: "This is a really great result and I’d like to thank the Herefordshire and Worcestershire communities for your support to this highly worthwhile scheme.

"By making the effort to bring items to our recycling banks instead of simply throwing them away, you are directly contributing to communities in the developing world, as well as supporting our firefighters should they need the charity’s help after their many years of service to our two counties.

"Anyone who would like to donate unwanted items can find out what we can and can’t take, and where our recycling banks are, at firefighterscharity.org.uk/get-involved/recycle-your-clothing.

"So why not Clear Out Your Cupboards and help people in need and the Fire Fighters Charity!"

Kevin Biles, the scheme’s Sales & Recycling Manager, added: "This is such a fantastic achievement, thank you to HWFRS and all our fire stations, as well as to the generous public who’ve supported our clothes recycling scheme.

"As we head up and over £5million through the donation of unwanted clothing from all fire stations across the UK, with your continued support, we can continue driving this income stream to even higher levels over the coming years."