Children's Scrapstore Named Community Heroes Finalist

We're pleased to announce Children's Scrapstore as a finalist for our 2026 Community Heroes initiative, recognising the Bristol charity's work to improve wellbeing through play and creativity while diverting reusable materials away from landfill.

Standing out amongst the applications from September, the charity was selected by a panel including celebrity judge and TV tradesperson, Rob Bent. The campaign was launched earlier this year after research found that almost half of Brits (48%) say community spaces have disappeared in their neighbourhoods.

Children's Scrapstore will join seven other finalists selected between April and November 2026 to face a public vote in December, which will decide the overall Community Heroes 2026 winner who will receive £15,000 in cash.

Based in Bristol, Children's Scrapstore is a reuse charity dedicated to helping businesses divert safe and clean reusable waste away from landfill, transforming it into opportunities for creativity and learning. The charity supports children, young people and adults across the city, through a number of initiatives including its Scrapstore Warehouse, ArtShop, play services, events and community programmes.

Over the past year, Children’s Scrapstore has supported almost 139,000 people, working with 89 Bristol schools and reaching tens of thousands of children through its PlayPods programme. It has also diverted the equivalent of 4,275 wheelie bins of reusable materials from landfill, highlighting the significant social and environmental impact of its work.

Thanks to the win, Children's Scrapstore has secured £2,000 to spend in their local branch, Selco Bristol. The funding will contribute towards a programme of planned improvements to the charity’s building, including accessibility upgrades, replacement of the existing lift, window replacement, roof repairs and other essential refurbishment works.

These improvements will enhance the building’s functionality, improve energy efficiency and help reduce ongoing maintenance and operational costs. Importantly, they will create a safer, more accessible and welcoming environment for visitors, volunteers, staff and partner organisations, ensuring the building remains fit for purpose and able to support the charity’s activities effectively.

Tina Hunt, Operations Manager at Children’s Scrapstore said: “We are delighted to be the September finalist for Selco Community Heroes! This money will go a long way in helping our charity keep the building clean, tidy and compliant with health and safety regulations, so that we can run our free art-based events in a welcoming safe space.”

“We will use the store credit to navigate the increasing costs involved in maintaining our historic warehouse building. We plan to buy paint, shelving, smoke seal strips for our fire doors, and some LED lights to replace our fluorescent lighting to help cut down on our energy costs. Huge thanks to Selco for this invaluable support!”

Now in its sixth year, and with a bigger prize fund than ever before at £62,000, the Selco Community Heroes initiative is designed to benefit small community projects that are building brighter futures for their local areas.

David Lennon, Commercial Director at Selco, said: "Children's Scrapstore has spent decades making a positive impact across Bristol, combining creativity and sustainability in a truly inspiring way.

"The impact of their work - from supporting schools and families to diverting thousands of reusable materials from landfill - really impressed our judging panel. We're delighted to name the charity as a Community Heroes finalist and to be supporting its plans for the future."

Local charities and community projects are encouraged to find out more about Community Heroes and apply online.