Supporting outdoor education through sustainable reuse

What do you do with 60 perfectly good climbing helmets? You give them a second life. As part of our sustainability journey, we recently donated retired (but fully safe) climbing helmets to our neighbours at the Peel Forest Outdoor Centre.

While they were no longer the right fit for our electricity distribution work due to their vented design, the helmets still have years of safe use left - so landfill was never an option.

Peel Forest Outdoor Centre is a local, non‑profit provider of outdoor education and training, using the natural environment to help people build skills, confidence and resilience through outdoor experiences.

This is a practical example of how our Thriving Communities strategic pillar comes to life - by taking a considered approach to reduce waste, extend the value of quality resources, and ensure they benefit the wider community. Any remaining helmets that are no longer suitable for reuse are being recycled through Workwear Recycled, ensuring the full batch is responsibly diverted from landfill.

For our industry and us, it's a reminder that sustainability isn’t only about what we invest in, but how responsibly we manage what we already have.