Bringing colour and creative delight – WCMA’s spotlight on sustainability!
WCM&A ltd. one of A Good Thing’s first-ever paying supporters, has made sustainability a key foundation of its British-made merchandise business. The business promotes informed decision-making from the start, by explaining to its customers how their choices can make a difference.
WCM&A is a member of the British Promotional Merchandise Association (also a great supporter of A Good Thing!), and is a proud signatory to the Association’s “StepForward Pledge”, which encourages members to take positive action to reduce waste. WCM&A’s sustainability statement is published on its website and has helped the company to focus the whole team on its these principles.
Jules Adams, WCM&A Director, told us:
“While having a good clear-out of some cabinets at WCM&A Ltd, I came across some espresso-style recyclable cups I had purchased for an event about 12 months ago. Unfortunately, the event didn’t go ahead, and the cups had been tucked away ‘for a rainy day’ – but that day never came! At the same time, we had a large quantity of photo frames that we weren’t going to reuse or repurpose. We were keen to list them too, hoping a local charity could make use of them.”
A match happened quickly, and Jules was very happy to be choosing the charity she did:
“I was thrilled when Nurture Families, a fantastic local charity, requested them. Nurture Families supports families with children (from pregnancy through the early years) by strengthening parent–child relationships and advancing quality early education and care – a truly worthy cause.”
Nurture Families had big plans for how it would make use of the donated items, as Jules explains:
“Hannah, CEO of Nurture Families, was happy to collect the items and it was a pleasure to meet her in person. She shared that the photo frames would be used to display children’s photos and artwork, while the cups would come in handy on community days with young children and parents. It felt great knowing these items would be put to such good use.”
Jules is already a keen and regular user of the platform, but this experience has cemented her commitment to making it part of WCM&A’s operations:
“Without A Good Thing, these things would have sat in storage gathering dust or potentially ended up being discarded. I will absolutely continue using A Good Thing – it’s my go-to platform for making sure our surplus items get a second life where they’re truly appreciated.”
WCM&A made another donation recently, this time of branded tote bags – which were swiftly collected by Beth Parmenter, Manager of Remade Worcester. In an email expressing her gratitude, Beth said:
“I just wanted to say a big thank you again for those lovely blue tote bags you donated to us back in February. We made use of our huge stock of scrap fabrics to put pockets on both sides to cover up the logos – and then used the bags as a marketing incentive at the spring ‘Quilt Show’. They were hugely popular with our customers and a fantastic addition to our stall.”
Surplus stock, unwanted items and items ‘kept for a rainy day’: these can all be donated via A Good Thing, where they will be given a fresh new lease of life. Sometimes it’s in their day-to-day actions that businesses show their commitment in leading the way towards a more sustainable future, and WCM&A has done just that.