Local medical charity Cobalt and Cheltenham based waste collection service Printwaste teamed up to help people recycle their cards after Christmas. The Charity accepted used Christmas and greetings cards in a collection that ended Friday 14 January. Numerous community organisations and individuals collected cards including Gotherington Village, St James Church of England Primary School, Dursley Lions Club and fundraising society The Stroud Stragglers.

Donated cards will now be sorted and upcycled by volunteers into new greetings cards to raise vital funds for the Charity. Printwaste, who specialise in shredding and recycling will remove any waste including trimmings.

Christopher Robins, Marketing Manager, Printwaste said “Our partnership with Cobalt spans over a decade and we were delighted to team up again this year as one of our chosen charities. There’s a real feel-good factor surrounding the campaign. Not only are we helping to raise money for a wonderful cause but it’s being done in an environmentally-friendly way, with upcycling being one of the best forms of re-purposing your unwanted products like Christmas cards and all off-cuts recycled back into paper-based products.”

Julia Jenkins, Head of Fundraising, Cobalt said “We are so grateful for the generous donations of cards received this year. The upcycling of greetings cards is a fantastic fundraising activity that helps us to continue to provide diagnostic imaging to local people in the three counties. This year we are raising funds to purchase a new PET/CT scanner that will reduce scanning times for patients. The upcycled cards are great value and are lovingly created by our volunteers”.

Greetings cards are available all year round starting at a suggested donation of just £1 and are available from the Charity’s offices or at most of their events. Greetings cards can also be ordered online from the charity’s website https://www.cobalthealth.co.uk/cobalt-greetings-cards-online/. You can choose your pack size, place your order and make payment securely. Each card will help Cobalt to continue its work to support local people with cancer, dementia and other conditions.