Youngsters enjoy upcycled equipment left over from Norwich rail station refurbishment

Greater Anglia has donated items left over from the refurbishment of offices at Norwich rail station to a local creche.

Youngsters at Chicken Cottage Childcare in Bawdeswell received easels, whiteboards and other old office equipment that were no longer needed and are enjoying using them for outdoor arts and crafts and imaginative play.

The idea to donate the surplus came from Greater Anglia site delivery manager, Philip Hogg, who is a keen environmentalist committed to cutting down waste.

He said, "We are undertaking a huge refurbishment at Norwich station and while I was clearing out the old offices I found the easels and whiteboards which were too good to just throw away and I felt that they would be appreciated by someone. I knew of the creche as I live locally and I was really pleased when they said they’d love to make good use of them."

Chicken Cottage provides early years childcare for 40 children as well as running a before and after school club for Bawdeswell School and a thriving holiday club.

Reusing and recycling is part of their ethos and they have discovered that things like unwanted office equipment – such as old computer keyboards or items with switches – are great for developing children’s fine motor skills through imaginative play.

Carol Taylor, Manager, said, "We were really grateful to receive these items from Greater Anglia and the children are really enjoying using them. We have magnetic letters on one whiteboard so that they children can begin to learn basic phonics and spellings and we use the other for drawing, which is great because it wipes clean to be re-used the next day."

Greater Anglia last year reduced the amount of waste going to landfill by 67% and also reduced its CO2 emissions by 11%, increased recycling and reduced hazardous waste by 50%.