Charity Printer Cartridge Recycling

Interview with Marie Brown, Regional Fundraising Manager for NCH, the children's charity

Who are you?

NCH, the children's charity

What do you believe?

We believe all children and young people have unique potential and that they should have the support and opportunities they need to reach it.

What do you do?

NCH helps children to reach their full potential. We work in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and we are the UK's largest children's charity.

How do you do what you do?

NCH works in partnership with other agencies to provide local services to support vulnerable children, young people and their families. Services such as:
Adoption and Fostering
Disbaility Projects and Respite Care
Early Years and Family Support
Special education Schools and Support Services
Support for Young Carers
Health and Well Being Projects
Participation and Children's Rights
Residential Services and Families in Crisis
Youth Services and Independent Living

What makes NCH so special?

The work we do is like no other charity in the UK as we respond to local need and design services around local communities.

We work with some of the most vulnerable and excluded children in the UK.

We strive to keep our administration costs down to an absolute minimum making your money work harder.

When do you first meet Adrian at A B Recycling?

I knew you would ask that and to tell you the truth, Adrian is one of those rare people that you instantly feel at home with as soon as you meet him. I feel like I've known him forever, but realistically I think it was about 2 years ago.

As a fundraiser for NCH I was becoming increasingly frustrated that we were being offered cartridges for recycling but we hadn't had the support from a company to set it up.

I liked Adrian instantly as he is of the same breed as me, honest, forthright and doesn't mince his words. He gave me some sound advice and we had a bit of a laugh along the way. There was one thing however that set him apart from the rest; he volunteered some information to me that made me realise that he was not in this for the greed or the glory, but he just wanted to make an honest living without ripping anyone off. That sealed it for me.

So what is your relationship with A B Recycling?

Adrian and his lovely team at Lincoln decided that NCH, the childrens charity would be their main cause for raising funds. He had been approached by companies who wanted to donate to charities but didn't want it to cost them anything. Any cartridges that come in that don't have to be repaid to the company Adrian sets aside the money for us and donates to NCH once a year.

It's really a win, win, win situation: Adrian gets his stock levels up and can therefore keeps his prices lower than the competition, we get funds raised for the work we do with vulnerable children and companies feel good that they are helping both the environment and a great cause.

So do you use his cartridges then?

Absolutely! All of our local projects have been given the catalogue and regularly order from Adrian. One phone call and they are on the doorstep the next day - fantastic.

As a fundraiser I also do a lot of photographic and presentation documents and I haven't had any problems. As a charity we also need to be mindful of costs and Adrians prices are competitive and fair.