There’s a brilliant new opportunity for Badger Farm residents to support one of our region’s most vital charities — and it won’t cost us a penny. Jo from Tidy Badger Farm has recently been in touch with the Winchester Litterpickers group lead, and together we’ve joined a fundraising scheme for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

This charity provides highly trained critical‑care specialists who respond to life‑threatening emergencies across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Their work saves lives every week, and now our neighbourhood can help fund it simply by collecting aluminium.

What to Collect

Whether you’re out litterpicking or sorting your household recycling, we can gather aluminium only:

• Drinks cans (please crush to save space)
• Aluminium pet food containers
• Aluminium food trays
• Wine bottle screw tops

All items must be rinsed and free from plastic debris.

We can also collect clean jar lids and empty deodorant cans, but these must be bagged separately because they contain a rubbery lining and need different processing.

Where to Drop Items Off

Jo has set up three collection planters in Lowden Close (SO22 4EW) — by the wall behind the blue Hyundai i10 near the pampas grass.

You’ll also see a blue Air Ambulance collection bin, but please don’t use it directly. Jo needs to sort and process everything first to ensure it meets the scheme’s requirements. Once the bin is full, the charity liaison officer will arrange collection, and we’ll start again.

Why It Matters

This scheme has already raised £60,000, with over £10,000 just this year, in aluminium recycling across Hampshire. As Jo puts it:

“It’s an amazing initiative, and I’d love to see Badger Farm help raise even more for the Air Ambulance. Every can genuinely counts.”

Let’s turn our everyday recycling — and our litterpicking finds — into life‑saving support for a charity that’s always there when people need it most.