Scheme to recover the nation’s unloved clothes comes to Chiswick
Did you know we all have approximately 22 items of unworn clothing lurking at the back of our cupboards?
Charity Champions is a new scheme from Clothes Aid, the social business that collects clothes on behalf of charities in the UK. They are asking individuals who support particular charities to sign up to collect a few bags of good-quality clothes, shoes and accessories from friends, families and colleagues two or three times a year.
The service has been piloted from July 2011 in various parts of the country with Clothes Aid charity partners: the NSPCC; Make-A-Wish Foundation ® UK and Papworth Hospital Trust. From March 2012, the scheme will be available to residents in Chiswick.
To sign up, people just need to register online. Then once they have collected the bags they would like to donate, they can either email, call or fill in the form on our website to arrange collection at a convenient time for them.
One of the advantages of the scheme is that Clothes Aid can give its charity partners more money for the clothes sold through Charity Champions. This is because they tend to be a higher standard of clothing (therefore can be sold for more money), and the associated costs with collecting through this method are much less than for the usual method of collecting from door-to-door collections. ie less fuel and manpower are required.
Charity Champions are asked to collect clothes approximately two or three times a year or it could be when people are moving house and having a sort-out – the ideal time to find those 22 items at the back of the cupboards! It is a way for friends to get together and to have a seasonal look at their wardrobes and what they need and don’t need any more.
Clothes Aid asks for clothes to be clean and folded, with shoes tied together if possible, and they can also take handbags, hats, belts, bras, jewellery and accessories.
The clothes, shoes and accessories are sold in nearby European countries and the environmental benefits are two-fold: clothes are kept out of landfill (in the UK, there are still 1 million tonnes of clothes going to landfill each year, DEFRA figure) and clothes are given a useful second life.
“Supporting Make-A-Wish Foundation ® UK through the Charity Champions’ scheme with Clothes Aid is an ideal way to raise vital funds for Make-A-Wish,” says Karen England, Director of Fundraising. “Our aim this year is to grant 1000 wishes for children and young people living in the UK with a life-threatening condition. Giving away unwanted clothes is a very simple way to help us reach this target.”
March 1, 2012