ALCo Group Donates Surplus Building Materials to Walton Firs Foundation | Supporting Youth & Sustainability in Surrey

At ALCo Group, we believe that responsible construction is about more than the buildings we create – it’s also about supporting the communities around us. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Walton Firs Foundation, a Surrey-based charity-owned activity centre that transforms recycled and surplus materials into hands-on learning experiences for young people.

This initiative not only reduces waste across our industry but also helps inspire creativity, teamwork and practical skills in the thousands of children and youth groups who visit Walton Firs Foundation each year.

Turning Surplus Construction Materials Into Outdoor Learning Resources

Walton Firs Foundation has become well-known for its ability to repurpose reclaimed timber and offcuts into meaningful, educational activities. Using recycled pallets, scaffold boards and clean scrap wood, young people learn new skills while creating projects that support local wildlife and the environment.

Their team uses donated materials to build:

• 🐦 Bird boxes
• 🐛 Bug hotels
• 🔥 Campfire wood piles (using non-treated, metal-free timber)
• 🪧 Activity and nature-trail signage

Right now, they’re also expanding their popular fence-panel maze, which requires wider board materials for new information boards. Items such as featheredge, fencing kickboards and shuttering ply are especially useful. Even smaller offcuts – help with practical jobs like fixing shoe boxes to their camping pods.

At Walton Firs, almost every piece of timber has potential.

Why ALCo Group Is Proud to Support Walton Firs Foundation

Across many ALCo Group projects, we occasionally have surplus or unused materials left over – high-quality resources that are perfectly suitable for repurposing. Instead of allowing these to go to waste, we are now donating them directly to Walton Firs Foundation to support their sustainability and youth development programmes.

Our commitment helps:

• Reduce construction waste across Surrey
• Support environmental education for young people
• Provide essential materials for wildlife and outdoor learning projects
• Strengthen partnerships within the local community
• Encourage responsible reuse within our industry

We’re proud to contribute to a charity that shares our passion for sustainability, learning and community impact.

A Growing Network of Local Support

Walton Firs Foundation is supported by a fantastic network of local builders, scaffolders, tree surgeons and tradespeople who donate offcuts and surplus timber. This collective effort allows the centre to keep expanding its activities, improving its grounds and ensuring young people stay connected with nature.

ALCo Group is excited to join this network and continue investing in community initiatives that make a real and lasting difference.

Encouraging More Local Businesses to Get Involved

If you’re a local company with clean, untreated timber offcuts (free from metal fixings), Walton Firs Foundation can put them to excellent use. Whether it’s:

• Wide boards
• Pallets
• Scaffold boards
• Featheredge
• Kickboards
• Shuttering ply
• Battening
• General timber offcuts

• they can all contribute to outdoor education, wildlife projects and sustainability activities.

Working together, we can support both the environment and the next generation.