Luton's Mall celebrates a year of charity support

The Mall, Luton has supported 38 charities and 33 local community groups, investing more than £100,000 into the Luton community and donating 600 volunteering hours in 2021.

And it has released a video (viewable here) highlighting the variety of community support initiatives undertaken by the team during the past year.

The shopping centre supports a wide range of initiatives and sustainability projects to improve services to the local community whilst reducing their impact on the environment.

The video, which can be viewed on the centre’s website and social media pages, includes contributions from local charities and groups who have benefited from the support of the Mall and its customers, along with details of the many projects they have successfully delivered.

Level Trust, Keech Hospice Care and Big Change Luton are just some of the charities the centre supported, with the centre’s Charity of the Year, Luton Foodbank benefitting from a “Tap and Donate” scheme, drop off point for food donations and funds raised from Santa’s Grotto during the festive season.

Luton Foodbank were featured on the inaugural episode of Luton Life, the centre’s community-focussed podcast which launched back in March 2021.

Through the following months, Level Trust, Keech Hospice Care, the Royal British Legion and Mind (Bedford, Luton & Milton Keynes) were featured, providing a platform for each of the organisations to talk about their role in the community.

The podcast is available to download on Apple, Spotify, Google and Amazon. The Mall also marked key calendar events important to its community, including Windrush, Mental Health Week and Black History Month.

The Centre helped host an award-winning Diwali celebration including sponsoring the finale firework display, being part of the largest and best attended celebration to date.

As part of The Mall’s ongoing sustainability plan the centre has installed a range of new graphics located around the centre, communicating key achievements the centre has made and continues to develop including:

> 17 tonnes of plastic sent for recycling, meaning the centre saved almost 34 barrels of oil.

> The installation of a water refilling station at the customer service desk to help guests reduce their use of single use plastic by bringing their own bottles.

> Since 2010, The Mall has saved 56,923 cubic metres of water - the equivalent of more than 23 Olympic sized swimming pools.

> The Mall welcomed their first beehive onto the roof back in May 2021.

> To help guests reduce their use of single use plastics, The Mall installed a water filling station at their customer service desk so guests can fill their own reusable bottles.

> Since 2010, The Mall has reduced their electricity usage by 15,943,917 kw/h - the equivalent of powering 3,796 UK homes a year.

> Since 2013, 0% of the waste generated at The Mall goes to landfill. As part of The Mall’s pledge, the sustainable graphics displayed in the centre have been produced from recycled products.

Lavinia Douglass, The Mall Luton’s Marketing Manager, said, “The video is heart warming to watch and captures the lasting legacy of our commitment to sustainability and supporting community living. We are so grateful to our customers for taking part in our many projects whilst also supporting our fantastic retailers in what has been another difficult year. We are excited for 2022, continuing to support key charities and launching new initiatives to help our local community. We hope visitors will continue to listen to our Luton Life podcast which will feature information on our many projects both present and future.”