MP donates clothes to local charity shop for campaign

21st May 2012
MP donates clothes to local charity shop for campaign

Gordon Henderson MP last week joined forces with major UK charities including Cancer Research UK, British Red Cross, Barnardo’s, Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation – as well as hundreds of local hospices and smaller charities – in a drive to generate more donations for charity shops.

Mr Henderson supported the Choose Charity Shops campaign, led by the Charity Retail Association, by making a donation of items to SCOPE.

The Charity Retail Association has said that charity shop popularity is at an all time high.

Charity shops now raise over £200 million every year for a huge range of charitable causes and they reduce the UK’s carbon emissions by 3.7 million tonnes every year through reusing items. They also support 180,000 volunteering opportunities and 17,000 jobs.

But charity shops thrive on donations of unwanted items from members of the public, and many are struggling to get enough through the door. This week nearly 6,000 charity shops in the UK are coming together to ask members of the public to make a donation to a charity shop in their area and pledge to donate to charity shops for the coming year. Events are taking place across the country to support the campaign.

Warren Alexander, Chief Executive of the Charity Retail Association, said:

“Charity shops simply can’t survive without donations from the public, and we are delighted to have Mr Henderson supporting the campaign in Sittingbourne and Sheppey.”

Mr Henderson said:

“I was happy to donate some of my old clothing to SCOPE and I would encourage my constituents to have a rummage through their wardrobes and do the same.”

Photo (l-r): Judy Dudziak, Shop Manager of SCOPE in Sittingbourne, with Gordon Henderson MP.