Residents of West London have been generously donating their unwanted Christmas presents to a giant swap shop in Acton over the past few weeks, and last weekend the initiative finished with a special kids-themed “Give & Take” event.

This community exchange event was organised by green charity Healthy Planet to remind us that it is better to reuse and recycle than to send useful items to landfill – as well as to give cash-strapped Londoners a chance to get things they may not otherwise be able to afford.

Over the past few weeks a huge amount has been donated and then taken away – for free. Items have included over 15,000 books, flat screen televisions, beds, musical instruments, cameras, games consoles, toys, clothes and loads more.

The final weekend, coming at the start of half-term, was aimed at kids – with lots of toys to give away and special activities such as creative children’s entertainment by arts charity ‘ ‘The Fabelist’. CBBC star, Priyanka Patel, from TV show “Sadie J” was also on hand to sign photographs and spend some time with the kids.

Healthy Planet founder, Shaylesh Patel said:

“Thanks to the generosity of an amazing number of people, we have now given out a warehouse full of things that could still be useful to someone, yet would have ended up in landfill. Everyone who came along to our event to donate goods and take away what they needed, have made a real difference to helping the environment.

“We are delighted with the success of this event, and will be planning more in the future – people should check our website regularly for updates.”

The events were run in partnership with Furnish, a west London re-use charity and the West London Waste Authority.

13th February 2012