The Rise of ‘Save The World Club’

‘Save the World Club’ is a small charity situated in Kingston hoping to tackle humanitarian and environmental issues locally and in Ukraine.

A 3,500 square foot warehouse is where main the base of operations for ‘Save the World Club’ is and was founded by entertainer, Des Kay, thirty years ago.

The charity tackles environmental and humanitarian issues within the local community by raising awareness through local workshops, events, open days, and encouraging community engagement, culture, and the arts. They upcycle goods and collect surplus food from retailers to be donated, feed the vulnerable and those in need, repair, reuse, and recycle goods.

Feeding those in need mainly consists of collaborating with supermarkets to remove food that is past its sell by date, this food is still perfectly good but because it can’t be sold and would otherwise be incinerated, the food is then provided to other charities and then given to rough sleepers or those struggling with increasingly common food poverty.

The charity fed around 35,500 people in need in the last two years, and also accommodated three local refugee families with basic necessary equipment and furniture.

“Our repair, reuse and recycle aspects consist of taking goods people no longer need or want, preventing them from going to landfill and passing them on for a small donation to help us keep the space we currently hold. We provide goods for far less than new, supporting those financially struggling with affordable goods.”

One volunteer explains.

The charity recently had a collection to help get a van of supplies sent to Ukraine, they also partnered up with ‘FullCycle’ and installed a bicycle reuse facility.

Trustee and Treasurer, Roland Lawrence, says that:

“We believe that we need a special process by which we can become an optimal working group so that we can make all the right decisions about what we’re doing.”

Volunteers collect food every evening, sort, and box it, then deliver it to vulnerable homeless, refugees, elderly, disabled, and low-income people in need across the borough. They work with local food banks, faith groups, and other charities to redistribute it immediately. Their hard work continued throughout the vulnerable period of the Covid-19 pandemic, making sure people who were self-isolating were not forgotten and provided with good food.

‘Save the World Club’ started as a charity who used materials to create unique kinetic and mechanical structures to tell stories of waste and other important environmental messages and has now developed over the years into an incredible force of aid and support for those who are desperate in need.