PRESS RELEASE

March 2011

bpi.recycled products supports charity rowathon

bpi.recycled products, which ranks as Europe’s largest recycler of waste polythene, has sponsored a charity rowathon. Staged by Ampleforth College, York on the 5-6th March, the two-day rowathon set out to raise funds for Hopes and Homes for Children, a UK charity which works to transform the lives of vulnerable children across Central and Eastern Europe and Africa (www.hopeandhomes.org).

Around 600 people including parents, pupils, staff and members of the general public took part in the event at the College’s sports hall, completing some 3,500km on indoor rowing machines – considerably more than the original target which was to row the equivalent distance of York to Romania.

Those involved competed in a series of individual challenges and team competitions including a 10km team race projected onto a virtual lake on a big screen and a gruelling 100km endurance challenge for teams of two. Former GB Olympic rower Roger Brown won this event with his team-mate Julian Norton in a time of 3 hours 20 minutes. The remainder of the 3500km was racked up by individual distance challenges and school races.

Commenting on the rowathon, Father Gabriel Everitt, Headmaster at Ampleforth College, said: “We’re extremely grateful that bpi.recycled products chose to sponsor our charity rowathon. Their sponsorship has played a significant role in helping to raise funds that will support the on-going work of the charity and that will provide care for 60 disadvantaged families for an entire year.”

Rachael Barton, Marketing Executive from bpi.recycled products, added: “bpi.recycled products is proud to have been involved in such a fantastic and worthwhile endeavour. Hope and Homes for Children has made a massive difference to the lives of so many children and it felt great to make a contribution towards their invaluable and continued work.”

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Images & captions:   Ampleforth Rowathon.jpg: A show of support. Europe’s largest recycler of waste polythene, bpi.recycled products sponsors charity rowathon. 

For more information on this story, contact Wayne Mohammed or Emma Macey at PRECISION on 0161 638 8718 or e-mail: wayne@precision-online.co.uk or emma@precision-online.co.uk

Editor’s notes:

• bpi.recycled products is the largest recycler of used polythene in Europe recycling over 70,000 tonnes of post-use polythene material from commercial, retail, industrial and agricultural markets.

• bpi.recycled products uses some of these materials to manufacture its award winning Plaswood range of sustainable wood-substitute products. These products include park and garden furniture, street and countryside signs, bollards and marine decking.

• The environmental benefits of recycling plastic are becoming more widely recognised: maximising reusable material, diverting waste from landfill and conserving resources. bpi.recycled products has developed the necessary expertise and the infrastructure in the form of a network of Environment Agency accredited recycling plants to help drive these benefits forward.

• bpi.recycled products is a division of BPI (British Polythene Industries) plc, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of polythene films, bags and sacks.

• As a result of its commitment to operating in a sustainable way and to minimising the environmental impact of all of its activities, BPI won the Best Green Large Company category at the 2010 Scottish Green Awards.

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