Homelessness charity builds vital new kitchen with donated construction materials
Find out how an unusual and much-needed donation from family-owned construction company Mulalley & Co helped to rebuild hope for The London and Slough Charitable Trust (formerly The London and Slough Run), a prominent homelessness charity.
Meet two remarkable organisations
According to Defra, the UK construction industry produces around 100 million tonnes of waste every year. That’s thousands of potentially life-changing projects lying unbuilt on landfill all over the country. Luckily, forward-thinking companies like Mulalley & Co are engaged in Herculean efforts to reduce these numbers. Mulalley is a community-minded construction company which has been helping to develop and regenerate London and the South East for over 50 years; their initiative, Mulalley Marketplace, seeks to rescue excess construction materials bound for landfill and divert them to local community organisations, where they can create a massive impact.
One such organisation is The London and Slough Charitable Trust, which has for 40 years fed ‘the homeless on the streets of London every Monday throughout the year and . . . distributed food every day to about 150 guests in the area’ (Malcolm Johnstone, Chairman). Malcolm explained why the trust’s work is so crucial:
‘All our work is done for the benefit of anyone in need. We also deliver to all the other charities in the area who are associated with homelessness as we are the only ones with three vehicles on the road, working round the clock.’
What challenge did the charity face?
The London and Slough Charitable Trust received a blow when their existing London Run kitchens were condemned due to the discovery of asbestos. In need of a helping hand, the Trust turned to A Good Thing: we were soon able to match them with Mulalley & Co, who were only too happy to provide the charity with a generous trove of construction materials for its new project.
Now, the Trust will be able to rebuild stronger than ever and continue its fantastic work serving those with nowhere else to go.
Above and beyond
What’s more, Mulalley & Co extended an incredible offer: not only to provide the materials, but to deliver them for free as well. Sean Robinson, Sustainability and Environmental Officer at Mulalley & Co, pointed out that ‘charities and community organisations can struggle to fund the transportation of materials, [which is why] we have formed an agreement with one of our suppliers to provide transport for Mulalley Marketplace. This will ensure materials are circulated, continue to be utilised and, most importantly, are not wasted.’
Mulalley & Co’s ongoing commitment will facilitate crucial further deliveries, including to the Havering Community Centre this week. So while their materials are being used to build kitchens for the homeless, they’re also building all-important bridges between businesses and charities in their area – and that’s A (Very) Good Thing!
Using A Good Thing
Sean is very happy with his A Good Thing experience:
‘A Good Thing have been a dream to work with. The process is slick and efficient [and] we are often approached by charities within 24 hours for the materials we post. This is especially important due to time pressure to get them off our sites to free up space. Not only this, A Good Thing staff proactively contact myself or the recipients to ensure the process moves along and the transaction goes smoothly.’
The London and Slough Charitable Trust were equally thrilled, saying:
‘[The process was] very smooth and quick . . . with a clear timeframe to work together . . . We would like to thank the donors for their material help, as we could not keep going without their help.’
This match represents yet another ‘building block’ in the A Good Thing future, and we’re over the moon to see these inspiring results.
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