Charity calls for unwanted Christmas gifts to support its healthcare services
Howard Lake | 15 January 2012 | News
National health and social care charity Sue Ryder is encouraging people to donate any unwanted clothes, books, jewellery, bric-a-brac or furniture including Christmas gifts to its 370 charity shops across the country.
All money raised from the sale of donated items goes directly to support the charity to continue providing end of life and long-term care to people living with complex care and support needs at its hospices, neurological care centres and community-based services across the U.K.
Helen Reynolds, donated Group Stock Manager at Sue Ryder, commented: “Often after the festive season, people decide to clear out their wardrobes to make space for new items bought during the sales season and to throw away what is no longer used. Every extra penny we are able to raise for Sue Ryder means extra help we can provide for people living with complex care and support needs”.
eBay estimates £652 million is spent on unwanted gifts over the festive season.* A new survey for online classifieds website Gumtree.com found that every UK adult will have been given up to two presents they did not want this Christmas, each worth £48.41 on average.
Helen added: “We are encouraging people to donate their unwanted gifts instead of hiding them at the back of their wardrobe or throwing them away. Sue Ryder provides end of life and long-term care to people living with conditions including cancer, stroke, Multiple Sclerosis and dementia. If we look at our hospices, for example, their services are free to the point of delivery. But we need to raise more than 60% in voluntary income to continue to provide those services for local communities. The extra money raised through our charity’s shops is a means to help the charity raise much needed funds”.
To support Sue Ryder, people can simply drop off any unwanted items at any Sue Ryder shop – and are encouraged to ask to gift aid them to add an extra 25% to the total sale value of the goods. People can also become a gift aid member online and can find out where their local shop is by visiting www.sueryder.org or calling 0207 554 5900
Sources: *Study conducted by TNS omnibus on behalf of eBay http://www.tns-ri.co.uk/_assets/files/16563_On_the_buses_email_pdf.pdf
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.