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IT clear-out raises funds for our lifesaving service

Hundreds of pieces of old IT equipment from a Kettering business have been recycled and resold, raising more than £3,500 to keep our Warwickshire ad Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) flying.

Our charity recently started offering a ‘Reuse and Recycle’ service through which businesses can donate their old electronics, which are wiped of data and returned to factory settings.

The electronics which are still useable are refurbished and resold, while items which are not useable are recycled. Both approaches help to raise vital funds for our lifesaving service and stop old hardware being sent to landfill.

Our service received a recent boost from a donation made by National Accident Helpline, which is based in Kettering Venture Park. Following IT upgrades, the company made a large donation which included 100 telephones, 50 PCs and a selection of monitors, laptops, printers and a TV.

To date, the recycled electrical items from National Accident Helpline have helped save 475kg of waste going to landfill and have raised more than £3,500 for our service, which receives no government funding and relies entirely on donations.

Mitchell Maybury, Asset Erasure Manager WNAA, said: “We introduced our new Reuse and Recycle service last year and it has been well received by businesses.

“There are plenty of benefits for both parties – we are able to help businesses meet their obligations to wipe data from old equipment, while saving them the cost and time involved in disposing of the old equipment.

“The feel-good part is that the donations we generate from reselling and recycling the equipment help to keep our medical teams airborne, while the whole process prevents this equipment from clogging up landfill.

“The donation from National Accident Helpline was most welcome, and we’d urge other companies planning an IT upgrade to think of us when deciding what to do with their old hardware.”

As well as desktop and laptop computers, monitors and televisions, we are able to refurbish old audio-visual equipment, mobile phones, tablets, hard drives and media or video broadcasting equipment.

Tom Fitzgerald, Managing Director of National Accident Helpline, said: “As a business which speaks to hundreds of people injured in accidents every day, we are always looking for ways to support the services which help people when something unexpected happens.

“The Air Ambulance is an incredible, vital service which we will continue to support in any way we can.”