大象传媒

Two sisters from Leicester have gone the extra mile and found new homes for 200 tonnes worth of items.

Rama and Sujata Bhalla have given away more than 拢1.5 million of surplus stock and other goods from more than a hundred UK business to a total of 150,000 people across the world since setting up their charity eight years ago.

The sisters have now been presented with a three thousand pound Leadership Award from Leicestershire First for their impressive charity work.

Listen: Interview with the sisters

大象传媒 Leicester's Sonia Parmar was at the presentation and spoke to Rama and Sujata about their work...

The sisters first started their good work when they noticed a printing works was throwing out reams of unused paper that they decided could be given to small community groups and nurseries.

Their belief that, "everything can be used" lead them to re-distribute more and more surplus business stock.

Eventually the organisation grew so big that Rama, followed two years later by Sujata, gave up their full-time secure jobs to dedicate themselves to recycling.

Beneficiaries have included people in developing countries, patients in hospitals, women fleeing domestic violence, homeless shelters, and community groups at grass-root levels.

The sisters have now embarked on a new challenge with the launch of their new web-based charity Giving World Online, which aims to link more businesses and disadvantaged people globally without passing through their hands in Leicester.

Rama said, "There's a tremendous amount of business surplus that goes to landfill because the very nature of business is that it will create surplus at some point."

The Award

The sisters' Leadership award was presented by Martin Trainer from Chamber of Commerce, who pointed out the importance of the title:

"The Leadership Award is about recognising people's achievements in the community.

"The sisters here are an excellent example of where they have put together this charity, they've lead the way forward, they've enthused people, they've not only helped businesses but they've helped people in the community."

Speaking about the award Sujata said, "I felt really overwhelmed. It's an amazing thing to receive.

"It's actually the first award we've ever received, so you just sort of feel really pleased, over the moon for the organisation for Giving World Online but also it's a tribute to all the people that have helped us.

"We can't do this in our own. We've got a huge team of volunteers and I feel it's a real tribute to their work as well."