Office collections 8 January 2017 at 10:43AM in Charities 6 replies 6K views

Shineyhappy

Hi everyone,

I work at a large office in Derbyshire and would like to organise a bit of a spring clean event where people could bring in things that they wouldn't traditionally think they could donate to a charity shop.

For example I will be asking for eye glasses that can be collected and recycled. I know that most opticians do collect them but on talking to a lot of my colleagues it turns out most people forget to dispose of their old pairs and have several pairs at home unwanted as they are on old prescriptions.

I just wondered if there were any other items that we could collect other than the traditional books and clothes.

Thanks very much!
SHP

kingfisherblue

https://www.smallsforall.org collect bras to be donated to women in Africa - but I'm not sure that the ladies in your office will be happy bringing in their old underwear. You would also have the cost of posting them to the charity.

What do others in your office think about your idea? Do you have the space to organise collections?

Saver-upper

Hi Shineyhappy,
I am in the middle of a big declutter at the moment.While I was looking around MSE this morning for ideas,I found this post,which has some excellent links at the bottom for getting rid of a few things you wouldn't usually think of.
Good luck!
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=69806488&postcount=4

Shineyhappy

Thanks for the ideas. Smells for all seems like a great idea. I will have a look at the other suggestions tomorrow.

We do have some space for storage and as long as it's not rooms full of stuff. I can also get s friend who will let me pay the courier costs of someone like TNT rather than a Royal Mail parcel rate. It works out much cheaper.

We do also donate to a local foodbank already, but I think we can do a lot more and I already have bake sales and cash raising ideas planed but it's nice to do things that won't keep costing people cash

custardy

Shineyhappy wrote: »

Thanks for the ideas. Smells for all seems like a great idea. I will have a look at the other suggestions tomorrow.

We do have some space for storage and as long as it's not rooms full of stuff. I can also get s friend who will let me pay the courier costs of someone like TNT rather than a Royal Mail parcel rate. It works out much cheaper.

We do also donate to a local foodbank already, but I think we can do a lot more and I already have bake sales and cash raising ideas planed but it's nice to do things that won't keep costing people cash

Kind of off topic but the lady from Small For All is a really nice woman.
Met her a few times.

rach_k

The animal rescue/wildlife centre here is grateful for old bedding and towels as long as they don't have holes in them so that could be an option. When the school did a collection, I used the opportunity to clear my airing cupboard! They also appreciate pet food which pet owners may have spare - my cat is a fussy little beast so I often have unopened tins/packets where she's eaten the first one and then refused it after that.

My local cat rescue accepts general cat things like toys, spare collars, unused cat litter etc. They're not a registered charity but it's a good cause and helps clear out unwanted things that clutter up the house otherwise.

Katiehound

Other things that have value to different charities are stamps, old/foreign coins,old shoes, jewellery (can be broken) postcards as well as all the items that appear in charity shops!

Some charity shops take goods which are clean but no longer saleable- tatty clothes, bedding, fabric scraps , old belts etc and they are paid 'rag weight.'