A recent collaborative effort between two Carpet Recycling UK members has delivered much needed flooring to a social housing initiative. 

Gradus, a leading UK carpet manufacturer reached out to the Salvation Army offering to donate flooring for their work within the social housing sector. David Collins-Lafferty, Marketing Manager for Gerflor & Gradus has said that “this charitable initiative demonstrates our commitment to our ongoing CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) goal.”  The relationship with the Salvation Army arose from Gradus’s CRUK core funder status resulting in this much welcomed donation. It has also been an innovative response within Gradus to handling surplus stock sustainably and finding new uses for discontinued lines. 

David further explained, “we have worked with The Salvation Army to donate and deliver discontinued carpet that will be sold through three of their donation centres to generate funds for the charity. We have donated two-and four-metre-wide rolls in six various discontinued colours. As part of the donation plan, we also agreed with The Salvation Army that we would cut rolls down to manageable lengths of five linear metres. This supports them with storage and handling” It was confirmed that around 1,500m² will be donated during the first half of 2024.  

At the Annual Conference this year one of the key themes was collaboration within the sector.  

CRUK are delighted to see our membership engaging in this way providing an excellent example of this in action.   

Additionally, at the Salvation Army Richard Shea has endeavoured to combat local furniture poverty providing crucial flooring solutions within social housing. His efforts were recognized when the Salvation Army were the recipients of the 2024 award for Best Practice in the Reuse and Recycling Project category at the conference in July.