The lighting industry initiative Donate-A-Light has organised the gift of luminaires to a community space in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
The LED lights, from Signify, are now illuminating St Luke’s’ Community Hub where the Brownies, the Guides, pre-school groups, the HAWA Herts lunch club and many others meet.
The hall hosts a free weekly community meal every Tuesday, created using rescued surplus food from local pubs, restaurants and shops — cutting waste while supporting those who need it most.
To help improve their lighting, reduce running costs and cut carbon, Donate-A-Light is supplying nine Signify 65W LED battens for the upper hall, replacing older twin-70W IP65 fluorescent fittings, and 48 16W LED lamps for the lower hall, replacing 4×36W T8 fluorescent tubes within existing 600×1200 luminaires. Donate-A-Light, which was recognised with a prestigious Build Back Better Award at a ceremony in London earlier this year, says it is a practical solution to avoid repainting the ceiling.
These donated products have a retail value of around £700, but the long-term benefits for St Luke’s include a 2kW reduction in connected load, an annual 3,000 kWh reduction (based on 1,460 hours/year or 4 hrs/day).
It should cut electricity costs by almost £800 a year. Some 69 lighting products diverted from landfill and 0.65 tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide has been saved annually.
The logistics of the operation were organised by Whitecroft Lighting.
The Donate-A-Light initiative creatively bridges the gap between the lighting industry and underfunded sectors that could never otherwise afford high-quality LED upgrades.
The scheme directly improves the quality of life for society’s most vulnerable, reducing running costs for charities and care providers while enhancing safety, comfort and wellbeing through better lighting.
At the same time, Donate-A-Light fosters a spirit of shared responsibility and inclusion across sectors, while simultaneously raising CSR within the lighting industry.
By extending the useful life of lighting products and diverting them from landfill, Donate-A-Light actively reduces waste, supports net zero ambitions, promotes responsible consumption and re-use.
Each installation cuts energy use, reduces maintenance costs, lowers emissions, and shrinks the carbon footprint of beneficiary organisations, helping them become greener overnight.
This initiative embodies circular economy principles by keeping products in use longer, reducing the need for new manufacturing and lessening the burden on natural resources.
