Our BBC Radio 4 Appeal is now live!

We’re thrilled to feature on BBC Radio 4 this week where our fundraising appeal is being broadcast to the nation!

Renowned chef, vocal environmentalist, and journalist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is championing our appeal and we couldn’t ask for a better advocate. He shared our appeal on Radio 4 on Sunday, and it will be broadcast again this Thursday. You can also listen to it on BBC Sounds.

Being part of the BBC Radio 4 appeal is a huge step forward in our campaign to raise £1 million in time for our 10^th anniversary next year. Every donation made to the Radio 4 appeal is being matched by a generous donor up to a total of £15k so every pound donated is effectively doubled!

We’re hugely grateful for donations of any size – they all add up to allow us to support even more communities to find value in waste while addressing the health, environmental, and economic consequences of the global waste crisis. £30 provides collectors with protective clothing and safety equipment while £50 allows a waste-picker to attend a training day – improving their knowledge and skills.

To support the appeal, donations can be made via this link from Sunday 28th April: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001yqhr

Why Hugh has chosen to support WasteAid

Hugh has been vocal throughout his career about his conservation and environmental passions. He has seen the devastating impact of the waste crisis first-hand while filming his documentary series War on Plastics and Hugh’s War on Waste.

On the global waste crisis, Hugh said: “The true scale of the global waste crisis was brought home to me while filming in Malaysia a few years ago. We came across a mountain of dumped plastic containers, bottles, bags – all sorts and all shipped in from around the world.”

He added: “The thing I really like about WasteAid’s work is it isn’t just about cleaning up the planet, it’s about working with local communities and empowering them too.”

WasteAid works hard to support the people most impacted by the daily consequences of the global waste crisis. The communities we operate in don’t have the infrastructure in place to cope with the amount of waste produced, leading it to be dumped or burned which causes more CO2 to be released into the atmosphere than the global aviation industry. Through mentoring and coaching programmes, access to investments and technical knowledge sharing we work with communities to find lasting solutions to their waste challenges while also helping them to improve their economic outlook.

Our CEO, Ceris Turner-Bailes, said: “We are so grateful to Hugh for shining a light on the work WasteAid is doing to empower communities that are the worst affected by the global waste crisis and helping them to implement lasting and sustainable solutions that both improve their futures and the environment.

“With his support, we’re hopeful our BBC Radio 4 appeal will be a significant step forward in our  £1 million fundraising campaign.”

You can listen again to WasteAid’s BBC Radio 4 Appeal on Thursday 2nd May at 3:27 pm.

Donations can be made here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001yqhr

Please note that donations can be made to this page until 11.59 pm on Saturday 4 May. Any donations made after this time may go to a different charity.