Volunteers Clear Up As Waste Management Firm Ensures Annual Project Goes Ahead

Published on: 8 May, 2017
Updated on: 8 May, 2017

Some of the volunteers pose for a picture in Bellfields.

Nearly 150 local volunteers assembled over the May bank holiday weekend in the name of Ready 4 Action – a Guildford-based community clean-up project hosted by youth work charity Matrix.

But it nearly didn’t happen this year at all.

Each year, Guildford Borough Council (GBC) donates some of its tipping allowance to Ready 4 Action to enable the teams to clear overgrown gardens of waste.

A planning strategy ahead of the clean up took place at St Peter’s Church in Bellfields.

The gardens would otherwise be unsafe for children or just unusable. Cutting back trees and bushes that block light or create a hazard make a huge difference to the lives of many families in the area.

However, GBC told Matrix it was only able to donate the tipping of green waste, about 20% of the total, due to financial cut backs.

But Chambers Recycling came to the rescue. Misty Bower, CEO of Matrix, spoke to the team at Chambers who were quick to step in and save the day.

One of the teams pulling unwanted vegetation away from a garden.

Misty said: “Chairman and managing director Peter Chambers was really impressed with the work that Ready 4 Action does and the valuable contribution our volunteers make to the community every year.

“When he heard that this valuable work might not be able to go ahead this year he was more than happy to provide support free of charge.

Peter Chambers said: “We have been trading in the Guildford area for over 50 years and like to consider ourselves an integral part of the local community, and so we like being able to put something back by supporting this very worthy cause.”

Loading the tipper.

With the generous donation of  two industrial containers, the Ready 4 Action teams were able to clear 70 cubic yards of waste from gardens across Guildford.

Filled to the brim, the waste collected was quickly removed and recycled at Chambers’ plant at Slyfield, diverting 100% of the waste from landfill.

Full containers.

One young volunteer said this year: “It’s been great fun working with people from the community that I wouldn’t normally meet.”

Misty added: “Matrix are extremely grateful for the generosity of Peter Chambers and his team. One client was delighted to tell us: ‘What the volunteers did went way above my expectations – my children can use the garden again’.”

Removing waste.

With messages of gratitude coming in from Guildford residents that have been helped this year, Matrix is most grateful to the volunteers who gave up their bank holiday weekend to “love their neighbour in a very practical way”.

Matrix is dedicated to nurturing, inspiring, celebrating and empowering the young people of Guildford within their communities. For over a decade, Ready 4 Action has succeeded in bringing the whole community together – residents, young people, churches, business and the council – to serve their neighbours in loving, practical ways.

If you’d like more information about Ready 4 Action or would like to get involved next year, contact r4a@matrixtrust.com or visit www.matrixtrust.com

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