Recycling

The Fernhurst Centre. It is happy to arrange disposal of all printers and domestic IT equipment, except bulky CRT monitors. Anyone wishing to use this service can bring their equipment into the Centre although it is helplful if you are just able to check with us first before coming in.

It must be IT equipment - no other electrical items.

It has taken the 20 sewing machines donated by local residents to the Fernhurst

Centre’s ‘Machines for Malawi’ Appeal three years to make the trip from Fernhurst to

the village of Zomba in Malawi but their arrival has caused quite a stir. In May 2016 the

Centre put the call out for unused and unwanted sewing machines. Trustee Antonia

Plant’s daughter had recently volunteered at a rural school in Malawi, where

subsistence living is the norm and employment is hard to come by. The local ladies

were keen to learn tailoring skills which would enable them to earn a living and make

clothes for their families. The Fernhurst Centre could never have predicted how

successful the appeal would be (or how heavy those old fashioned sewing machines

were).

The 20 machines collected from the Fernhurst and Haslemere area came in all shapes

and sizes and dated from the 1920’s to the 1950’s, electric and manual, in perfect

working order or covered in dust and cobwebs. At the same time, laptops and mobile

phones, refurbished free of charge by Microsoft, were also collected and space on a

container given by a shipping company. UK Charity The Sparkle Foundation oversaw

the long journey and many customs checks and border crossings until the pallet’s

arrival in Zomba where it was unpacked by astonished and delighted villagers.