Partnership with Orchardville and ROC NI

 The Council's Recycling and Leisure teams have partnered with local charities Orchardville and ROC NI to support local people and families impacted by the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Winter Coat Project 2025

We are again partnering with Orchardville and ROC NI to facilitate collections of donated clean, pre-loved coats for children and adults.

Donation points /dates are expected to be in late November/early December, with a Pop-up shop planned to help distribute the FREE coats to anyone who needs them.

Locations/times/details to be confirmed: please check back for more information!

School Uniform Project 2025

In Ards and North Down, 261 children benefitted from receiving pre-loved items of school uniform and stationery thanks to the School Uniform Project 2025. Council partnered with Orchardville and ROC Northern Ireland to deliver four pop-up events at Bangor City Church and Newtownards Salvation Army Hub in June and July.

Additionally, four tables of free toys were also given away to children attending these events. These toys were collected from the HRC Reuse containers and diverted from disposal. To complete the free service, a representative from Sustainable Stories Bangor attended the pop-up events with a sewing machine to make any minor alterations to uniforms for the children.

We are grateful to everyone who donated and who helped facilitate this worthwhile initiative.