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St Michael's Hospice nurse holding up broken and unclean items in the Whitestone donation centre

7 October 2024

Would you buy it? Rise in unsaleable donations prompts plea from St Michael’s

With our Donation Centres receiving an increasing number of unsaleable items, we are sharing the challenges facing our retail teams.

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With our Donation Centres receiving an increasing number of unsaleable items, we are sharing the challenges facing our retail teams.

This #HospiceCareWeek and we are adding our voice to the campaign to share more information about the importance of our shops for the hospice.

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This year, we have worked hard to provide better access to our donation centres across the county, including the opening of our first 7-day a week Donation Centre. Sadly, during this time, we have seen an increase in unsaleable items arriving with us. Our teams have received unclean or damaged clothing, broken furniture, DVD or CD cases without the discs, dirty homeware or kitchen items, broken electricals and even bags of general household rubbish.

With government funding for hospices falling short, hospices across the country are relying on their shops as they are receiving more funds from retail profits than the government. St Michael’s is no different and these extreme quantities of unsaleable items is taking a toll. Processing unsaleable goods costs us money and dominates a large proportion of staff and volunteer time, making it harder for our teams to get quality pre-loved goods onto the shop floor.

“Discarding items costs us money and is always our last resort,” commented Lesley Wilkinson, Head of Retail at St Michael’s Hospice.

“We distribute many items to our Pound Shops, and where possible, we recycle what cannot be sold. However, both recent changes to fabric recycling and the type of items being donated, means more must be disposed of by us. Waste disposal costs the organisation tens of thousands of pounds- every pound spent in this way is a pound less to spend on patient care.

“So, we are asking everyone to pose themselves a simple question before donating their items – ‘would I buy it?’ We hope that by thinking about whether they would buy the item in its current condition, it will help our wonderful supporters know whether it is suitable for donation.”

October 7 – 13 is #HospiceCareWeek and St Michael’s Hospice is adding their voice to the campaign in the hopes that by increasing education about donations and the important role retail plays, their shops can focus on stocking shelves with amazing pre-loved products and generating funds to support patients and their families in Herefordshire.

Donation FAQs

We aim to minimise waste as much as possible, both to raise as much money as we possibly can from all your donations and to keep waste out of landfill.

Until recently there was a world-wide market for re-cycled textiles. However, global conflicts and reduced demand has seen this outlet severely decline. As a result, we can only accept quality clothing that we can sell on the shop floor. We cannot recycle duvets, bed linen and other nonclothing textiles.

Sadly, we often receive items that are too damaged or dirty to be sold or recycled and these must be discarded. Not only does this cost the hospice money each week, diverting funds away from care, it takes up valuable time of our staff and volunteers. As such, we ask that you please review the items you donate and dispose of any damaged goods prior to visiting our donation centres.

How can I check whether an item is saleable?

Before donating, ask yourself: Would I buy this in its current condition or give it to a friend? If the answer is yes, we’d love to have it!

Any items that are visibly damaged, missing pieces or unclean, cannot be accepted at our shops / donation centres.

Required labels / marks:

Electrical items need to be complete with the safety mark and all toys need to have an appropriate CE Mark. Upholstered furniture must have an attached fire label.

For more unusual items please call one of our shops to gain advice before making the journey to donate. Some items do not sell in our shops, or sometimes we may suggest donating it for our online trading department where something is more unique.

Does it pass our easy 3-step check

Is it clean?
Does it work and it is safe to use? (does it do what it is meant to, does it have all its component parts, is it damaged)
Would I buy this in its current condition?

If the answer is yes, we would love to receive it!

Here’s a message from one of our nurses, explaining why we need your help with this:

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