This month, Project Soweto founder Rocky Clark visited the East Coast Hub site to collect the donated kits and meet colleagues who support operations on the company’s six UK East wind farms.
Each of the 590 wind turbines in the UK East fleet has its own first aid kit, which all have a use by date. The Ørsted team were keen to find a solution for the kits and linked up with Project Soweto via the Humber Nature Partnership.
Project Soweto began back in 2018, in the garage of founding member Rocky Clark. Now based out of a warehouse in Hull, the project collects out-of-date First Aid supplies, aprons, splints, trauma kits and other medical supplies that may be considered unusable in the UK. Items are sorted into what is usable and those that are not. For items deemed unfit for use on humans, equipment can often go to animal rescue charities or will be taken apart and recycled. Items that are sterile or can be re-sterilised become First Aid kits and other medical kits.
Rocky Clark, founding member of Project Soweto, said: “Donations such as this one are important in supporting our work providing humanitarian aid to places such as Soweto in South Africa - where emergency medical care often has very slow response times - and recently to the front lines of Ukraine. Not only do these kits save lives, but we reduce around 20-35 tonnes of waste from going to landfill every year too.”
Steve McBride, Head of QHSE for Ørsted’s UK East Generation, said: “This donation is a win-win approach! Not only are able to reduce our own waste, at Ørsted, but we’re also supporting the fantastic work Rocky and the Project Soweto team do. Being sustainable in our practices, no matter how big or small, can have huge impact.”
If you’d like to support Project Soweto, please contact Charlotte Timmerhues at charlotte.timmerhues@humbernature.co.uk
