This Thursday a new completely recycled toilet paper brand launches – with all of the profits going to fund wellbeing packs plus travel and accommodation costs for NHS workers.
Serious Tissues was set up by the brains behind Change Please, a Big Issue Invest-backed social enterprise that helps homeless people off the street by training them as coffee baristas. The loo roll is made from paper recycled from offices and homes.
Originally designed to help tackle the climate crisis and save some of the 10 million trees cut down every year to make toilet paper, the new product was meant to be kept under wraps until the summer. However the team decided to bring the launch forward in response to the Covid-19 outbreak and direct all profits to NHS Charities Together as frontline healthcare workers continue to risk themselves and their families.
The group reckon that if five per cent of the approximate 20 million families in the UK made the switch to Serious Tissues, at least £10m would go to the NHS.
The cash will fund efforts to get food deliveries, snacks, refreshments, wash kits and overnight stay kits to the workers toughing out long and demanding shifts.
The Serious Tissue team also hope that the money will go to help NHS staff and volunteers recover after the pandemic passes by providing respite, rehabilitation and mental health support.