Colleagues at Spire Regency Hospital in Macclesfield embraced this year's Recycle Week theme, 'Rescue Me', saving crisp packets to be repurposed into blankets and bivvy bags for the homeless.

Spire Regency Hospital employees threw themselves into Recycle Week this year, saving all their used crisp packets for a very worthy cause: The Crisp Packet Project. Recycle Week ran from October 14 to October 20 and saw over 1000 crisp packets saved from the bin thanks to the dedication of colleagues depositing all empty packets into several collection points around communal staff areas in the hospital.

The project is part of a wider Spire Healthcare initiative, with seven Spire hospitals involved in total. Family members and friends were even recruited onto the recycling drive, helping the hospital to reach the impressive figure. 

The Crisp Packet Project endeavours to make bivvy bags from scratch, a resource that is particularly useful when blankets and sleeping bags are in short supply. Bivvy bags are placed around the sleeping bag in order to add warmth and protection from the bad weather, and in turn makes a sleeping bag more durable, especially throughout the colder months.  

The hospital is located on West Street in Macclesfield. (Image - Spire Regency Hospital)

On average, The Crisp Packet Project requires roughly 120 packets to make one bivvy bag for the homeless, therefore Spire Regency Hospital will have contributed enough for 8 bivvy bags, a crucial resource for the homeless, particularly as winter draws in. 

According to Recycle Now, UK households are wasting an astonishing 1 billion items every year that could be recycled, including cleaning product bottles and yoghurt cartons. A key message behind this year's Recycle Now campaign is the need to give these items a second life, and in this instance, the 'second life' of the crisp packets is impacting the real lives of those who are sadly living on our streets. 

John Armstrong, Waste Lead at Spire Regency Hospital says, "When I heard that this year's Recycle Week theme was 'Rescue Me' I knew that we had to get involved. There is such a strong sense of camaraderie and community spirit within the teams at Spire Regency Hospital that I knew that everybody would want to contribute. In such a short period of time, we have managed to help vulnerable people in our local community, save a significant number of crisp packets from landfill and do our part in dispelling our modern throwaway culture. 

"I am delighted with the results of our crisp packet challenge, and it has confirmed what I already knew; that Spire Regency Hospital cares. Thank you to everybody for their commitment to the cause." 

Click the red link below to find more about the hospital. (Image - Spire Regency Hospital)

The private hospital is located on West Street, Macclesfield, where The Talbot pub used to be.

Sheryl Smith, Hospital Director at Spire Regency Hospital is proud of the result of the recycling campaign. She says, "I am so happy to see that we're taking great strides in ending unnecessary wastage and helping those that are amongst the most exposed in our community. 1000 crisp packets is an impressive figure and I am delighted that our contribution will help to make this winter more bearable for those who are truly in need.

"Thank you to everyone for their efforts." 

Macclesfield: You can find more about Spire Regency Hospital on their website.