Council raises £120k recycling artificial joints

Stafford Borough Council presented a cheque for £14,000 to a charity at the end of June

A council has raised £120,000 since it began recycling artificial hip and knee joints in 2013.

Stafford Borough Council filters out the valuable metals used to create the artificial joints, with permission from families, as part of its cremations.

The metal is separated from a person's ashes, and it is then sold to a recycling firm.

The money raised has been used to support charities, with council leader Aidan Godfrey presenting a £14,000 cheque at the end of June to the Stafford and District Bereavement Loss Support Service.

The service provides confidential bereavement support and has been running since 1984.

Its trained volunteers provide emotional support for people at a time when they were going through bereavement or loss, the council said.

The charity’s chair of trustees, Shyamali Fenton, said: “This money will enable us to provide in house training of more bereavement support workers, buy in specialist training for our existing volunteers and support a volunteer to become a supervisor.”

Councillor Ian Fordham, the council’s cabinet member for environment, added: “I know that this money enables these charities to continue giving excellent support to our community.

“But I also want to recognise, and thank, the families of deceased loved ones who have allowed us to recycle metals from the cremation process at what must be a very difficult time for them.”

Other charities that have benefitted from the scheme include A Child of Mine, Samaritans, and Katharine House Hospice.