Charity shops call for more clothing donations

In a bid to get more clothing through the door the Charity Retail Association has kicked off its week-long Choose Charity Shops campaign. With the popularity of charity shops high, bringing in an estimated 1 billion last year, – charity shops arekeen to meet the increasing demand from consumers for used clothing to wear.

The CRA said charities shops are struggling to meet this demand as more people are selling their unwanted clothes to raise funds for themselves while others are keeping clothes for longer. According to research from JRA Consumer Research one in six people have admitted to selling their unwanted clothes.

The research also showed that three quarters of people have unwanted clothing in their wardrobes that they no longer use.

A spokeswoman for the CRA which members include Oxfam, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross and Barnardos – told letsrecycle.com: The idea of the week is to get those people with clothing just sitting in their wardrobes to donate more of it to charity as it raises so much money for them and raises awareness of the work they do. Donating to a charity shop also keeps things out of landfill and keeps the carbon footprint down. It does a lot of good in a variety of ways.

The spokeswoman added that by encouraging the public to donate direct to the charity shops, this also helps to eliminate the problem of theft from kerbside collections and textile banks.

Donations

The week, which runs from May 14 to 19, is backed by MPs and celebrities alike who are leading by example and donating unwanted clothes to the charity shops for reuse and recycling.

Commenting on the benefits of donating to charity, charities minister Nick Hurd said: I fully support the Charity Retail Associations ‘Choose Charity Shops’ campaign. I plan to make my own donation, and would encourage everyone else to make the effort to take unwanted textiles, together with resaleable small household goods, to one of their local charity shops. Low stock levels mean that charity shops need peoples generous donations now more than ever.

Mr Hurd added: As well as raising over 200 million pounds each year for a wide range of deserving causes, they provide a source of cheap, good quality clothing, and employment and volunteering opportunities. They also play an important part in reducing our carbon footprint through the recycling or re-use of items that would otherwise end up in landfill.

TRA

The campaign has also received support from the Textile Recycling Association – the trade body for the UKs used clothing and textile collectors, sorters and reprocessors.
Alan Wheeler, national liaison manager at the TRA, told letsrecycle.com: The Textile Recycling Association welcomes this positive campaign by the CRA to promote used clothing donations through their members shops. It is important that all forms of legitimate charitable clothing collections are supported.

Mr Wheeler added: As well as charity shop donations, charity clothing banks and door to door collections can raise substantial funds for charity. They are also good for the environment and they support thousands of paid jobs in the UK. We wish the CRA every success in their campaign and hope that it will help to reduce the estimated 1 million tonnes of textiles, which still ends up in the UKs household waste bins every year.