Kind-hearted customers at Lakeside Village Outlet Shopping in Doncaster are helping local residents struggling with rising household costs to stay warm this winter, thanks to a partnership with St Leger Homes.
The outlet shopping centre on White Rose Way is collecting unwanted clean bedding from its customers for donation to St Leger Homes’ charity – Garage 32.
The charity was set up to help St Leger Homes tenants who are struggling to buy household essentials, and to provide a recycling point for people to donate household items and furniture.
Lyndsey Parry, deputy centre manager at Lakeside Village, said: “We partnered with Garage 32 and St Leger Homes towards the end of 2022 and already, we’ve had an overwhelming amount of blankets, duvets and pillows donated by our customers, who – as ever – have supported this important cause wholeheartedly.”
Jude Laidlaw, Tenancy Sustainability Team Leader at St Leger Homes, added: “We’re so grateful to Lakeside Village for thinking of us with their bedding collection.
“To already have collected so much is amazing, and it’s helping to make a real difference for a lot of people this winter – especially during the cost of living crisis, when some people may not be putting their heating on as much and feeling the cold more.
“All of the bedding donated via Lakeside Village is given to people who would otherwise be unable to afford it, and that means they will be kept warmer and more comfortable in their homes this winter.
“As well as this, Lakeside Village also generously donated a shopping voucher as a prize in our St Leger Homes Christmas Foodbank Fundraiser appeal, which helped us to raise money for our local foodbanks who do so much to support local people in need. Thanks to everyone at Lakeside Village for their community spirit and kindness.”
The bedding donation initiative is part of Lakeside Village’s mission to encourage shoppers to recycle more items, following the launch of a recycling area at the centre, in 2022, where customers can drop off items including printer cartridges, PPE, batteries, plastic bottles and unwanted bras for recycle, donation and reuse.
Lyndsey added: “We’ve been blown away by the response to our recycling area. It’s only been open a few months, but already we’ve got a huge number of donations and recycled materials, including stacks of boxes of bras to recycle and donate to Against Breast Cancer Care.
In 2022 Lakeside Village recycled 82 tonnes of cardboard, 11.3 tonnes of soft plastic, 10.2 tonnes of food recycled to be made into renewable energy, 11.5 tonnes of mixed hard plastic and paper and two large boxes of old printer cartridges.
More than 375 bags of recycled clothing and bric-a-brac was also donated by the centre and its shoppers to the Doncaster and Rotherham branches of the RSPCA.