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Sending suitcases from UK to Kenyan orphanage
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Hi,
I'm going to Kenya in 10 days to volunteer in an orphanage and have been given a lot of clothes/shoes to take over to the kids from my friends/family. I could probably fill about 6 large suitcases. We're flying with Emirates and they are trying to charge us £744 per additional suitcase so obviously we're not going to do that! I've been looking into shipments/air freight but some of the more well-known companies are too expensive for us (i.e. almost £1000) and I'm wary of the less well-known companies as the few reviews that I've managed to find aren't that positive and we don't want to waste any of our fund-raising money.
Could anyone recommend a good value, reputable shipping/freight company or one that is willing to help out charities/volunteer work?
Thanks in advance for any help.
I'm going to Kenya in 10 days to volunteer in an orphanage and have been given a lot of clothes/shoes to take over to the kids from my friends/family. I could probably fill about 6 large suitcases. We're flying with Emirates and they are trying to charge us £744 per additional suitcase so obviously we're not going to do that! I've been looking into shipments/air freight but some of the more well-known companies are too expensive for us (i.e. almost £1000) and I'm wary of the less well-known companies as the few reviews that I've managed to find aren't that positive and we don't want to waste any of our fund-raising money.
Could anyone recommend a good value, reputable shipping/freight company or one that is willing to help out charities/volunteer work?
Thanks in advance for any help.

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Comments
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Won't Emirates do you a special deal as it's for charity? I would expect them to carry it all for free. Name and shame them in the press if they won't do it. Try writing to someone high up in the company.0
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Apparently they're not a very charitable company! My friend flew British Airways to Kenya 2 years ago and they gave her 100kg free -that was just for her going. There's 4 of us going this time, so we've spent £2,000 on flights, but they're not for helping us out at all. I'd love to shame them in the papers but wouldn't know where to start! I really don't know what to do.0
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When are you going? If you do a search on google you will see that some airlines (eg Thomson) allow an extra case to be taken over if plenty of notice is given and proof that you are taking the stuff for a registered charity.
ETA: sorry, I see you are going in 10 days. That might be cutting it to fine to persuade anyone to do it for free. Maybe you could fit as much as possible in your own luggage on the way over and then make arrangements to send a further shipment when you get back?0 -
Thanks for suggestions but it's not a British registered charity - it has a charity number in Africa but it's quite a small orphanage and not linked to any big charity over here. I think a shipment or air freight will be our best option but it's just knowing who to use... :-S0
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You could have a boot sale in the UK and then purchase items when you are in Africa. Second hand clothing from Europe and the USA is available in any African market.0
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Hi, thanks for all the suggestions. I've managed to get a good deal on air freight with excessluggage.co.uk... fingers crossed it all works out ok!! Thanks again.0
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If it doesn't you could always look at a haulage company that ships to kenya they may be willing to ship charity goods with their normal commercial freight.0
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