Charities call on the public to donate unwanted Christmas gifts
Melanie May | 5 January 2023 | News
With most of us receiving at least one present we don’t like, want or need for Christmas, now is the time we might be considering what to do with them – and a number of charities are encouraging the public to donate them.
Among them are the British Heart Foundation, Age UK, Air Ambulances UK, Oxfam, the PDSA, and St Giles Hospice.
A study of 2,772 adults across the UK for Oxfam revealed that a third of people put unwanted gifts away out of sight, with 14% only fishing them out if the giver comes round. 10% of people throw unwanted gifts away, and 6% hand them back.
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It has revealed the top 10 unwanted Christmas gifts:
- Soap
- Bath bomb
- Moisturiser
- Bubble bath
- Body spray
- Candle
- Jumper
- Mug
- Joke/gag gift
- Perfume
Also appearing on the list are ties, keyrings, handmade gifts, and pens, while some unusual festive gift faux pas include an out-of-date diary, a toilet seat, a broken bottle, bag of apples, bikini trimmer, steak knives gifted to a vegetarian, and a hairbrush given to a bald man.
The charity is encouraging more people who have received unwanted quality gifts to donate them.
Lorna Fallon, Oxfam’s Retail Director said:
“Finding the perfect gift at Christmas is a challenge. So, it’s unsurprising we can’t get it right every time. So, instead of leaving millions of surplus presents to gather dust in cupboards, we’re asking people to put those items to good use. We will sell well-meant, but as-yet unloved, presents to others who will want them cutting down on waste and crucially raising money for our work fighting poverty around the world. So please join our gift amnesty. Donate your unwanted stash to an Oxfam shop and do something amazing this New Year.”
Likewise, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) is asking people to donate quality unwanted Christmas gifts to help fund its research into heart and circulatory diseases.
A survey of 2,010 people carried out for the charity by Censuswide before Christmas, revealed that almost a fifth (19%) of Brits have previously donated their unwanted Christmas gifts to charity.
It found that the main reasons people did so included helping to fund a good cause (54%), decluttering (47%), not liking their gift (33%) and receiving multiples of the same gift (25%).
Of those who had donated gifts to charity, 39% had donated clothes, 19% had donated toys, and 6% had donated gift sets.
BHF asks people to post their donations by downloading a freepost label from the BHF website, book a collection, or to take them down to their local BHF shop. In a year, the charity says it saves over 57,000 tonnes of goods from going to waste and through the reuse and recycling of donated items, helps prevent 130,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere.
Allison Swaine-Hughes, Retail Director at the BHF, said:
“At the BHF, we see an increase in toys, accessories, homewares, personal tech and books donated at this time of year. Our survey shows us just how many Brits have a post Christmas clear out of the items they don’t need – and how we need more people to donate their unwanted, high quality gifts to us.
“It’s not only free and easy but helps fund our life saving research. Anyone looking to donate to the BHF can visit our website to find out more about the easy, free, and convenient ways to do so.”
To encourage more people to donate their unwanted gifts, Age UK has joined forces with The Wombles – the well-known champions of sustainability, and of nature and the environment.
The Wombles, who have also lent their support to Remember A Charity Week, will be working with Age UK throughout the year as the characters celebrate their 50th anniversary. Together they hope to inspire people to adopt positive (Womble-style) behaviour, whether by recycling their unwanted items and donating them to Age UK shops, or reusing pre-loved items purchased in the charity’s shops.
Age UK quotes UK Gift Card & Voucher Association research from 2019, which found that every year Brits receive an average of two unwanted Christmas presents each, equating to more than 119.5 million gifts that miss the mark. The research also found that of these, 22.7 million unwanted gifts went to landfill.
Great Uncle Bulgaria said:
“We all have a part to play in looking after our environment and each other, which is why we have teamed up with Age UK.
“By supporting Age UK’s charity shops, both by purchasing items and donating your unwanted items, you will not only be doing your bit for the environment but helping a great cause!
“Funds raised from the charity’s shops will be used to support older people across the country, who often have no one else to turn to. So instead of letting that Christmas gift you’re unsure of go to waste, make like a Womble and donate it to Age UK to be reused and loved again.”
The Wombles and Age UK are also encouraging people to make their donations worth an extra 25% for the charity by signing up to Gift Aid.
The Air Ambulance Service is also calling on the public to give away their unwanted Christmas gifts, saying that charities are the perfect place to re-gift all of those unwanted presents.
In a blog on its site, the charity explains the benefits for charities of receiving people’s unwanted gifts, what they can accept, and how to send them in. The Air Ambulance Service has a number of recycling banks across the country that accept clothing, shoes as well as toy banks which can be found through its bank locater. It also uses ClickSit; a free postage option that allows people to send items for free by filling a box, scanning a QR code or visiting ClickSit for a free postage label, and then dropping the box off at their nearest Collect+ point – or of course, simply to drop off at a local store.
Meanwhile St Giles Hospice, the PDSA, and other charities are also spreading the message to encourage donations.
For some inspiration on messaging, here’s a selection of their tweets:
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.