BHF Shops' stock appeal exceeds target
Howard Lake | 12 October 2009 | News
The public has donated over 360,000 bags of donated items during September in response to an appeal for stock from British Heart Foundation (BHF) Shops.
‘The Big Donation’ was "the UK’s biggest ever stock appeal" according to the charity, and it aimed to attract 350,000 bags in 30 days. The appeal was launched following a 20% drop in the volume of donated goods being given to the charity’s shops in the past year.
The campaign attracted support from fourteen celebrities including comedian Jonathan Ross who donated his Vivienne Westwood suit and Alan Carr who stripped off and posed in a ‘designer’ donation bag
Advertisement
Lidl, Argos and Homebase stores supported the campaign by holding ‘drop points’ for donations in participating shops.
A good quality bag of stock is worth up to £20 or more, so the charity estimates that the donated items will be worth more than £7 million.
BHF Shops has over 600 shops selling 60,000 items every day. It attracts 15 million customers and has over 15,000 volunteers. Last year, the BHF Shops raised over £15 million towards the fight against heart disease.
Diane Locke, Acting Chief Executive of BHF Shops said: "It’s great to see so many people across the country taking the time to have a clear out and support the appeal. Without their ongoing donations and continued support – BHF Shops would not be able to continue to generate millions towards the fight against heart disease."
www.bhf.org.uk/shops
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.