Representatives of four Rotary Clubs from across eastern central England have met for the first time to discuss their approach to an appeal which is really taking off.
That appeal is the charity Helipads For Hospital, whose founder John Nowell also attended the meeting in Grantham with members of the Rotary clubs of Lincoln Colonia, Sleaford, Sleaford Kesteven and Leicester Novus.
The four clubs are already collecting aluminium — mainly drinks cans — which will be recycled into helipads for hospitals. The Lincolnshire clubs have said they want Leicester Royal Infirmary to be the first hospital in the East Midlands. The four clubs at the meeting discussed the possibility of seeking a grant to buy bins costing a little over £500 each so that members of the public will be able to donate empty aluminium cans.
There are currently five such bins in the region; one at Shepshed, provided by Shepshed Rotary, one at Melton Mowbray and three in the Sleaford area.
At the meeting, Leicester Novus showed three can-crushing machines which have been thoroughly tested. Perhaps the most effective is a £25 foot-operated machine. The most expensive is an electric machine costing more than £800. The third machine, hand-operated, costs nearly £300. That machine has been kindly loaned to the club by the owner of Knighton Tool Supplies, from Lothair Road, Leicester.
The meeting was told that a Sainsbury’s store in Lincoln is now paying 5p in vouchers for each aluminium can returned for recycling.
John showed a small, and very light, ingot which is about the size of an inch-thick pad of A4 printer paper, but weighed about the same as a smartphone. It had been smelted from about 300 cans.
If you would like to donate your empty aluminium cans to the appeal, please scroll up to the top of this page and click on the ‘Contact Us’ tab and e-mail us so we can arrange to collect them.
Last edited: 23:15 on Friday, November 1, 2019
