Don’t need it?
Why not donate it to your local shop
Our shops are always delighted to receive good quality donations but we ask that prior to taking your donations to your local shop, please contact them first, particularly if you have a large donation. Until further notice we are still not able to carry out home collections.
Children's Hospice South West's shops rely on donations of good quality items. Every bag of stock that is donated to us makes a real difference to our children, young people and their families and could be worth up to £25. You can drop off donations at any of our shops and hospices.
How you can help?
- Do you have items you no longer want or need that you could donate to be sold to raise money for the Children's Hospice South West?
- Clothes that are too big or too small, books you’ve read, furniture you’re replacing, toys your children or grandchildren have outgrown?
We would love for you to spread the word to your friends, family, work colleagues and community networks, that the Children's Hospice South West need and will welcome their saleable donations? Are you, or any of your friends or family, part of a group, club, society or business whose members of staff may consider holding a ‘Donate It’ day? We can help work through the logistics - from providing bags for donations to be collected in, posters to promote the wide range of items we need and we can even arrange for our van driver to come and collect bulk or large donations on a given date.
How to donate items to your local shop
Grab a donation bag
Donation Bags are available in every CHSW shop and at hospice receptions, so feel free to pick one up on your next visit. You could even take a few and give them to family and friends.
What do I do with my donations?
You can deliver your donations to one of our hospices or to one of our shops. Alternatively, if you have large items of furniture, large quantities of donations or cannot transport your donations, we can arrange to collect them from you. Please telephone us on 01271 325 270 to make arrangements.
What difference will I make?
We rely almost entirely on voluntary donations and your unwanted items can help us continue this important and vital work. Our shops are always in need of good quality items to sell and welcome your donations, so the next time you have a spring clean or house clearance, please remember Children’s Hospice South West may be able to benefit from your unwanted items. For more information on how to donate to our charity shops please contact your local shop.
Items we can't sell
There are some things that we can't sell for safety or legal reasons. If you're not sure whether we can sell your donations, please take a look at our list of items we can't sell.
Leaving donations outside shop opening hours
Although we really welcome your donations we ask that you please don't leave them outside the shop when we're closed. Not only do we like to be able to thank you personally for bringing them in, but when bags are left outside overnight it can be problematic.
Bags outside a shop are a fire hazard, items are often stolen or they can simply be ruined by our great British weather! They cannot then be sold and we often have to pay to be dispose of them. Plus it all ads up to lots of extra hours of valuable volunteer time to sort through donations that then need to be got rid of. All of this means that it is of no benefit to us as a charity, and may even cost us!
We take great care to make sure we can raise funds from as many pre-loved items that are donated to us as possible, but there are some things that we cannot resell in our shops or raise money from in other ways. There may be good reasons that you aren't able to drop off your donations when the shop is open which is why we try and have shops open at weekends. If you have a large collection of bags from a business or community group or house clearance we can arrange to come and collect them from you. But you'll understand that we ask for donations to be bought into us wherever possible to help us keep costs down of collections, so that more of the money we raise can go into funding the care at our hospices.
It's a sad fact that most items left outside charity shops when they are closed will be damaged in some way.
Do good and hold a 'Donate it Day':
You can get a group together of family, friends or colleagues and hold a ‘Donate it Day’ to support us. Collect all your groups donations together on your ‘Donate it Day' and we can then collect them from you free of charge.
It’s a great way to do good for and support Children's Hospice South West and to have that clear out of your home or office, all in four easy steps.
- Simply contact us to arrange where and when you want to hold your ‘Donate it Day’.
- Let everyone know about your ‘Donate it Day’.
- Get everyone to bring their bag of donations on the day.
- We’ll collect all the bags from you free of charge after your ‘Donate it Day'.
You can make it a social get together with coffee and cake or a good team challenge to see who can collect the most. Be creative and hold your ‘Donate it Day’ any way that you choose!
We will warmly welcome your pre-loved goods as donations, thank you.
