THE Rotary Club of Ilkley Wharfedale has been given permission to hold their annual recycling collection despite the ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

It will take place in the main car park in Ilkley on Saturday, September 26 between 10am and 4pm.

A rotary club spokesperson said: “Please make a note in your diary if you’re interested.

“It will obviously be different to previous years with strict social distancing having to be enforced. Anyone with any of the following items that they no longer need will be welcome to bring them down: bicycles, sewing machines, walking aids, wheelchairs, tools, school backpacks and spectacles. “The collection is in association with The Margaret Carey Foundation which collects bicycles, wheelchairs and walking aids and has them refurbished mainly in prisons (to help prisoners attain a skill and thereby reduce re-offending). They are then donated to people in need in the UK and overseas. Tools for Africa gives new life to unwanted tools and assembles them into kits for carpenters, builders, automotive repairs, dressmakers etc and distributes these through WorkAid to African countries so that they can start small businesses and support their communities. They also distribute tools suitable for vocational training to the Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind in Jaffna, Sri Lanka; Mary’s Meals provide life-changing meals to some of the poorest children every day they attend school and will use the school backpacks for delivering to schools in third world countries. The spectacles are sorted and calibrated again for use in third world countries. Perhaps the most important change this year due to Covid-19 is that the volunteers will not be able to help unload goods from donors’ vehicles due to social distancing regulations unless the donor physically cannot do this in which case the donor will have to socially distance themselves whilst one member of the team off-loads the item. It is hoped that this will not put people off bringing any unwanted items.”