A dentist from Leicester has raised over £6,000 by donating her career long collection of gold crowns and bridges that would otherwise have gone to waste.
Alison Lockyer, from Number One Dental in Francis Street, made the decision after hearing about Gold for Kids, a charity set up by fellow dentists, which collects and melts down unwanted precious metals to help transform the lives of children living in poverty.
“I have been collecting these tiny pieces of metal for my entire 40-year career and always refused to give them to the scrap metal merchants because they always take a big cut of the value,” she said.
“I knew there must be a better way – and I was delighted when I discovered the Gold For Kids charity. This is such a simple way for dental practices to make a huge difference and I’m so pleased to have been able to contribute.”
With more than 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK, Gold for Kids processes the precious metals and gives all the funds directly to UK children’s charities, including the NSPCC, Barnardos and Transforming Lives for Good, a charity who provides lunches for children in the school holidays.
Charity founder and trustee Leticia Casanova, from London Periodontics and Implant Dentistry, set up Gold for Kids in 2018 with her husband David Holmes when they realised the amount of scrap metal that accumulates over time. She said:
“When my husband and I started our dental clinic, we wanted to do something to help those in need and after becoming a mother myself, we came up with the idea of using the discarded precious dental restorations, as well as any old jewellery, to raise money for underprivileged children.
”We are so grateful to Alison for this amazing donation. It’s a collection she has saved during her whole career. It’s incredibly generous and means that in total this year we have raised over £18,000 for children’s charities, a third of which has come from Alison alone.”
Gold For Kids is now calling out for more UK dental practices to become Ambassadors for the charity, as well as appealing to patients and the public to donate any crowns or bridges that are being taken out or replaced by their dentists, to donate them through their practice. Leticia continued: “Patients and dentists can do so much good by donating their waste metals to so many amazing charities doing wonderful work for children in the UK.”
For more information about the charity, to register interest or to request a collection, visit www.goldforkids.org. You can also email the charity at info@goldforkids.org
