JP Leads Charity Collection Drives

Community Integrated Care’s Recycling Champion, John Paul (JP) Derbyshire, will be leading a number of collection drives in the North West over the coming days, as our charity looks to donate toys and toiletries to local community groups throughout the festive season.

We will be inviting colleagues from across Liverpool, St Helen’s, Runcorn and Widnes to donate second hand toys and unused toiletries, to be donated to charitable groups supporting local causes, such as homelessness, refugees and women’s refuge.

The collections form part of our charity’s wider accessible recycling programme funded by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) and the UK’s leading waste management company, Veolia, which aims to improve knowledge and awareness of recycling amongst the people we support and our colleagues.

Thanks to the funding from MRWA and Veolia, Community Integrated Care has also been able to recruit and provide two long-term paid employment opportunities for people supported by our charity – JP from St Helen’s has been appointed as the charity’s ‘Recycling Champion’ and Oliver Thomason from Warrington will also be starting a role working on reducing food waste across the charity.

In addition to heading up the collection drives, JP will also be delivering creative, accessible educational sessions to our colleagues, people we support and local community groups across the region. Taking on the role of gameshow host, he’ll be teaching people all about recycling through interactive activities inspired by popular gameshows such as countdown and blockbusters.

John Hughes, Director of Partnerships and Communities at Community Integrated Care said:

“At Community Integrated Care we are passionate about working with our local communities to enrich the lives of the people we support, whilst also having a positive impact on wider society too. This project not only makes a big difference to people in need this Christmas but also helps JP to achieve his dream of enjoying paid work.”

He continued: “With research showing that 65% of people with learning disabilities would like to work, but only 6% of people are in employment, this is a brilliant opportunity for both JP and Oliver, and we hope that it makes a powerful statement about inclusive employment. We would like to express our gratitude to the Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority and Veolia for their funding and support which has helped make these incredible initiatives possible.”

If there are any local community groups that would like to request toys or toiletries, please contact Community Integrated Care’s Partnership and Communities Manager, Craig Thomason, on craig.thomason@c-i-c.co.uk or 07729636686