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BuildBackBetter

Donate-A-Light

The Donate-A-Light initiative, a pioneering, not-for-profit lighting initiative that takes unused, surplus or slow-moving LED lighting products from manufacturers and suppliers and redistributes them free of charge to hospices, care homes, charities and community spaces across the UK, has won a Build Back Better GREEN Award in the 2025 lighting category.

Donate-A-Light is a force for social and environmental good, at no cost to those who need it most. Its mission is, it says, rooted in a simple belief that everyone deserves the comfort, safety and dignity that good lighting brings, regardless of their financial situation.
Donate-A-Light is a simple yet highly effective model that addresses multiple social and environmental challenges through one elegant solution.
Rather than seeing unsold or surplus stock as waste, Donate-A-Light reframes it as a critical resource, reimagining the supply chain as a cycle of compassion and renewal. 
This 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. 
It transforms the final stage of the product lifecycle into a meaningful act of social contribution.
It’s 100 per cent free to end recipients, funded through generosity, corporate sponsorship and the sale of surplus products. 
It’s an industry-led partnership model, where lighting manufacturers become changemakers and sponsors. 
It’s also a proven model, which is scalable, replicable and ready to go national with the right funding in place. It deliver immediate and measurable impact with minimal infrastructure. 
In short, Donate-A-Light transforms surplus into solutions, stock into sustainability, and light into lasting legacy. The executives behind it believe it is a ground-breaking example of how the lighting industry’s waste can help illuminate lives, communities, and the future.
Credits: Whitecroft, for providing free warehousing and logistic support. Product donors to date include 18Degrees, Sylvania, eEnergy, Future Architectural Lighting, Legrand, Aurora, Trilux and Kosnic.