Spire Yale Hospital colleagues transform old crisp packets into blankets for homeless

• Colleagues from Spire Yale Hospital and Spire Chesney Court Outpatient and Diagnostic Centre have recycled hundreds of old crisp packets and transformed them into survival blankets for the homeless

Shel Cayton, the Waste Leads Coordinator for Spire Yale Hospital and Spire Chesney Court Outpatient and Diagnostic Centre, brings 15 years of experience in homeless services to her new role in promoting Recycle Week 2024's campaign, "Rescue Me," which aims to encourage colleagues to increase their recycling efforts.

The "Rescue Me" campaign resonated deeply with Shel, particularly as her colleagues frequently inquired about the proper disposal of crisp packets. Unfortunately, crisp packets cannot be recycled – a single packet takes around 80 years to decompose. Inspired, she recalled The Crisp Packet Project, a nonprofit social charity, created to raise awareness who transforms used crisp packets into waterproof blankets for the homeless.

Angie Wallace (Hospital Director) and Shel Clayton (Waste Leads)

The support Shel gained from her colleagues, Hospital Director Angie Wallace and other Spire hospitals, was overwhelming, receiving crisp packets from serval Spire hospitals including Spire St Anthony's, Spire Parkway, Spire Portsmouth and Spire Liverpool; And a massive effort from Spire Abergele Colleagues – Llinos Griffith (Health Care Assistant) who took the lead, and made their own blanket.

From left to right Debbie: Lloyd, Jane Miller, Lucy Barnard and Llinos Griffiths

Llinos from Spire Abergele said, “It has been nice to be able to do something good, not only recycling for the environment but also giving something to the homeless to keep warm over the winter months.”

Each blanket took around 150 empty and washed crisp packets to make. They were created by ironing the packets and then fusing them together with a protective and waterproof plastic sheeting, with the foil inside ideal for reflecting a person’s body heat back onto them to keep them warm on the streets.

The crisp packet sleeping bags have been distributed to the Wrexham Outreach team, along with a collection donated by Spire colleagues of essential items that the Wrexham Outreach are short of, including socks, knickers, underpants, gloves and roll on deodorant.

Shel said “The homeless services is an area I'm passionate about, a year ago I took quite a drastic career change, but homelessness will always be in my heart! I’m pleased I can bring my experiences to my new role. I will continue to look for fun and exciting ways we can recycle and save our waste from landfill. It's been a team effort, and I thank everyone for their support.

Angle Wallace, Hospital Director at Spire Yale and Spire Chesney Court Said: Thank you to our Waste Lead Coordinator, Shel Cayton, for taking the lead on this inspiring project to use recycled crisp packets as blankets for the homeless community and to all the colleagues who have helped bring it to life.

"We recognise the urgent need to address sustainability, as part of Spire Healthcare’s ongoing commitment to reducing our carbon foot print, and we take great pride in our ability to support our community in this endeavour".