Donating goods to Butterwick Hospice is a popular and very helpful method of supporting the Charity. Each year Butterwick receives on average over 250,000 items of clothing, books, bric a brac, household goods and furniture that we sort and where possible recycle and sell on through our high street shops. We can currently recycle just over half of what we receive however, there are many items we can't sell.
We do sell over a ton of rags each week which consist of clothes that are not of a high enough quality to sell on through the shops. Selling rags is a way of raising funds albeit small amounts but it takes a lot of time to sort the good from the not so good.
We also have to dispose of many items we can't sell because it is an article we are not allowed to sell or its condition is too poor. This costs the Charity a lot of money each year so we thought it would be helpful to let you know what to donate and what not to donate.
What not to donate
We are unable to collect and re-sell (either for health and safety or legal guideline reasons) the following items:
TVs, Computer equipment, beds, fridges, microwave ovens, white goods, gas appliances, wall units over 5 ft in height, pianos or large electric organs or suites without the current fire regulation labels attached.
Please also do not donate part items such as incomplete toys, puzzles and games or part sets of bric a brac. 75% of the bric a brac that we receive we can't sell on because it is incomplete, such as one cup and saucer from a set or it is damaged. Unsalable items have to be skipped - we pay for the skip to be emptied, or taken to the tip which takes up valuable time. We are a small team with two members of staff, a loyal handful of volunteers and just one van to service all our shops and customers.
Things we like to receive
The items that do make funds for the Charity include good quality clothing, books, complete games and puzzles, unbroken complete toys, good quality bric a brac, modern furniture with safety labels where necessary, small household electrical items such as lamps etc and collectables. All these items help Butterwick to raise funds through our shops to support the work done every day in our three hospices.
How to make a donation
You can donate goods direct to the shops or to our warehouse at Durham Lane Industrial Estate in Eaglescliffe. The warehouse is situated in Guiseley Way and you are welcome to drop goods off on Tuesdays or Fridays when the warehouse is open to the public. If your item is large you can request the van to collect the item from your home, however, our van is busy so it may take longer than you would hope to get to you, if you would like to use this service please call the fundraising office on 01642 628930 and be prepared to be patient.
We sell furniture from the warehouse and you are welcome to look around the furniture on display however, we don't sell any other products there at the moment.
We are very grateful for the support we receive through donations of goods as they provide a means of raising the money we need to maintain the high standards of care provided by Butterwick Hospice. We also run a very successful recycling scheme for donated used items such as ink cartridges and mobile phones and we recycle paper and Christmas cards too.
