#NoWasteofSpace: the opening of Polestar Manchester

Boxes get a bad reputation sometimes. Idioms like “think outside the box” make one think of limitations. To be “boxed in” is to be trapped. However, boxes are about to symbolize something else entirely: making a difference.

The efforts of the Polestar Manchester team while they wait to re-open has generated an incredible response.
Miranda Kaunang

Polestar Manchester had only been open for business for a short time before a nation-wide lockdown forced it to close. With stringent rules once again in place, the space stood empty. Staff found themselves with both time and a Polestar 2 fleet on their hands. Given the success that we had with the London space opening, we once again thought outside the box by putting actual boxes to good use. And instead of our Manchester space going to waste (as it were), it became a hub for charitable donations.

#NoWasteofSpace was born.

Polestar UK staff, along with members of the press who would have otherwise attended the opening of the space, were sent a box. An empty one. They were then asked to fill them with non-perishable food and beauty items, with the guarantee that Polestar will match each donation, kilo for kilo.

In a collaboration with UK charitable food redistributors FareShare, #NoWasteofSpace sees the Polestar 2s which would otherwise be sitting idle used as delivery vehicles for these boxes. Polestar staff hopped behind the wheel to assist in the deliveries. Professional footballers Viktor Lindelöf, Magdalena Eriksson, Kasper Schmeichel, and Pernile Harder jumped in to help. Comedian Jason Manford and actress Emma Samms, herself no stranger to Polestar’s unorthodox box-based endeavors, also assisted. The initiative was so popular that we’ve received requests for boxes from every corner of the greater Manchester area, including other car manufacturers.

In the end, Polestar UK received 325 filled boxes, weighing 2.2 tonnes in total. Polestar UK has matched the donations kilo-for-kilo, raising the amount distributed to Fareshare UK to 4.4 tonnes. FareShare says this is enough to provide more than 10,000 meals for vulnerable people in the Greater Manchester area. 

01/06

The all-electric Polestar 2 in Manchester.

“The Covid-19 crisis has been particularly challenging for those we work with, so Polestar’s #NoWasteofSpace campaign is particularly timely,” says Miranda Kaunang, Head of Development at FareShare Greater Manchester. “The efforts of the Polestar Manchester team while they wait to re-open has generated an incredible response. With over 10,000 meals donated through their initiative, this campaign will make a real difference to those in need.”

#NoWasteofSpace saw otherwise empty boxes becoming potent symbols for giving back, helping those who need help, and rethinking what can be done when circumstances demand something out of the ordinary. And this initiative is set to continue throughout 2021, past the Polestar Manchester re-opening date of April 12th.

No waste of space indeed.

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