THE “stripping out” of Naomi House children’s hospice is now complete.

An incredible 31 tonnes of material has been removed, the equivalent of ten Indian Elephants.

Nearly all of the material will either be recycled or sold with 600 man-hours of labour by volunteers.

Of the items to be recycled, 3.6 tonnes of timber has gone to the Southampton Wood Recycling Project to be refurbished and repurposed for sale.

Around 2.6 tonnes of mixed metal was removed from the site, netting the charity a welcome £2,600.

Andy Barnett, Naomi maintenance manager, said: “We are delighted to have been able to kick-start the refurbishment of Naomi House in such a sustainable manner.

"The amount of metal, rubble and plasterboard that was taken from Naomi House was quite incredible.

“To send it all to landfill would have been the simple option, but not the right thing to do.

"Of course, without the help of our volunteers, we would not have been able to sort through so much waste and we certainly couldn’t have saved so much money.”

The money will be ploughed back into the Caterpillar Appeal.

Naomi House & Jacksplace need to raise more than £4 million to fully refurbish the hospice and ensure the building is fit for purpose for many years to come.

The fundraising total so far stands at £2.4 million.