Falklands war hero and veteran Simon Weston OBE paid a visit to Savanna Rags International Ltd in Mansfield prior to his speaking engagement at the Mansfield Rotary Club Courage Awards this week.
The former Welsh Guardsman who received serious injuries when the Sir Galahad was hit and sunk in The Falklands War 30 years ago was taken on a tour of the specialist clothing and textile recycling company, where he met the executive team and was shown how the materials are sorted before being sent to Africa and Eastern Europe.
Commenting on the way Savanna Rags works with charities Simon said: “It’s great to see what many people would call waste being put to good use. I like the way Savanna Rags helps charities raise funds which means a lot of great community causes benefit from stuff that would otherwise be thrown away.”
Savanna Rags works with a wide range of charities, providing collection banks where people can deposit unwanted clothes, shoes and other textiles. The company then pays the charity a substantial sum for each tonne collected.
“Having Simon visit our recycling mill gave everyone a real boost; he is such an inspiration to everyone. We were also very proud to be able to sponsor him attending and speaking at The Courage Awards which was a very humbling but inspiring occasion seeing all those young people facing life with total determination to achieve their best,” said Ahmed Suleman, Managing Director of Savanna Rags.