News announced 25/04/2016

Beetlemania frenzy on the rise

Max McMurdo transforms £700 derelict classic VW Beetle into more than £5k worth of beautiful furniture

Upcycling has seen a huge surge of interest in the UK since April 2015, Gumtree alone has seen a 50% jump in the number of customers selling upcycled items and over 1000% increase in searches for upcycled items. The UK are on the lookout for new and innovative ways to transform reusable material while still making a bit of extra cash, with the results often being more useful, beautiful and valuable than the original item.

That is certainly the case with this amazing selection of furniture upcycled by designer and professional upcycler, Max McMurdo. Working with Gumtree, the UK’s largest classifieds site, Max has transformed a £700 derelict classic 1974 VW Beetle he found on the site, into over 20 pieces of amazing furniture and household fittings worth over £5k; all items are now available for sale on Gumtree.

Shockingly, around 2 million vehicles become waste every year in the UK* and disposing of the tonnes of associated metal, rubber and waste fluids is a huge environmental issue. Thinking twice about throwing away these old items will certainly prevent these numbers increasing, but it can also help you financially. With this project, not only has a new lease of life has been breathed into this old

Beetle, but its also one step towards improving the environmental impact of scrap cars.

From turning the door into the headboard of a bed to making a stylish desk lamp out of the exhaust pipe, Max has upcycled every last bit of the old Beetle into useful, functional and desirable items which, having been valued, are now up for sale on Gumtree. All proceeds from these items will be donated to The Butterfly Tree** charity to provide classrooms, books and toilets for the children of a rural Zambian community, opening up opportunities for their generation to break away from poverty and disease. Furthermore, Gumtree will match the proceeds made, doubling the amount going to this great cause.

Katie Crossfield, Marketing Campaign Manager at Gumtree commented:“There has been a huge surge in people buying and selling upcycled items on Gumtree, we want to motivate and grow this amazingly passionate community by helping them discover new and exciting opportunities within the upcycling world.

Through working with Max we've had the privilege of seeing our community really embraceupcycling on Gumtree, anyone can give it a go. We hope by showcasing the positive impact on the environment this brings it will help inspire more people to follow suit. “

TV presenter and upcycling enthusiast, Max McMurdo added: “Gumtree is on a mission to revolutionise the way we look at waste and I’m excited to be part of it through projects like this one. We want to show people that you can create quality items out of anything, even a run down VW Beetle. This project is a great way to share these opportunities and help people uncover their own creativity and put their hand to making something amazing.”

Products featured on Gumtree include:

Back seat sofa £650

(left); Dresser

with windscreen mirror £750

(right)

Outdoor fender

armchair £650 (left); Front seat

rocking chair £400

(right)

Exhaust desk lamp £200 (left); Number plate clock £75 (middle); Speedometer clock £125 (right)

To find out more, visit https://www.gumtree.com/content/upcycling-hub/?utm_source=[website]&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=beetlemania and to find all the items for sale on the site just search for #beetlemania or follow @Gumtree, #Beetlemania

* Figures sourced from Gov.uk

** Money raised for The Butterfly Tree will go towards the construction of a classroom block at River View School.  The school has 1,050 pupils with insufficient classrooms, classes have between 50 and 80 pupils, and some pupils have to learn in a tented shelter due to the lack of facilities.

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About Gumtree

Gumtree is the UK’s #1 classifieds website, used by 1 in 3 internet using adults every month reaching over 36% of the UK population. With over 1.9 million ads live on the site, it’s the perfect place to buy or sell secondhand goods and cars. You can also find ads for a wide range of jobs, properties to rent and buy, professional services, community events and more. Current figures show the Gumtree app, launched in 2012, has been downloaded over 12 million times. The unique visitors to Gumtree is 18.9 million* as of March 2016.

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* Figure from comScore

For more information please contact:

Manifest LondonMariana Hamel-Smith & Mike Cassias t. 0203 137 9270m. 07810274744e. Gumtree@manifest.london