Donating Items
You are welcome to bring items for donation to the warehouse if that is most convenient for you. If you would prefer us to collect the items, however, we usually have a waiting list of about four weeks. Our van undertakes between twenty and thirty collections each day five days a week so please be patient.
We rely on your continued support and kind donations to keep us going and always do our utmost to sell, recycle or otherwise get an income from everything you give us. However, it is not always possible for us to sell items so we then have to dispose of them. The costs of disposal are increasing all of the time and sometimes we are in the difficult position where your donation actually costs us money rather than helping to raise it! We therefore ask for your understanding if we refuse any items because we would have to pay to dispose of it. Thank you for understanding our predicament and please do not stop supporting us; we could not do all this without you!
We are happy to collect the following items:-
- Bric a Brac
- Books (We can take good condition paperbacks, good condition coffee table books, good condition hardbacks with covers, good condition childrens' books, historical first editions and annuals in good condition. We cannot take Mills & Boon type books, Reader's Digest composites, old book club books, books in poor condition or encyclopaedias).
- China and glassware
- Clothes
- Curtains
- Good quality furniture
- Household Linen and fabric
- Records, CDs & DVDs
- Soft Furnishings (Beds, mattresses, sofas etc with a valid 1988 Fire Safety Label - examples of the labels can be found below)
- Plants
- Tools
- Garden tools, mowers, strimmers
- All electrical white goods (cookers, microwaves, washing machines, driers, fridges and freezers)
- Printer cartridges can be recycled and bought via this link and will also support our work
We CANNOT accept:
- Small electrical items (ie toasters, car vacuums, table lamps, food processors, ceiling pendants etc)
- Black cabinet video recorders, TV and VCR combos
- TV sets
- Electric fires with open bars
- Upholstered furniture containing foam without the correct label to comply with the 1988 or 1993 furniture regulations (beds, mattresses, sofas, chairs, cushions etc)
- Foam backed carpets
- Any form of computer equipment, fax machine or printers. Cambridge Computer Recycling will take computer equipment - 01223 473875)
- Any Baby items (ie car setas, walkers, prams, buggies, cots, highchairs etc) - however, these items may be of interest to the Little Bundles scheme which is a local volunteer led community project. Their contact details are telephone 07905 716761 or email on . Their website, www.littlebundles.org.uk contains more information about their activities.
- Pianos or Electric Organs/Keyboards
- Electric blankets
- Safety equipment (crash helmets etc)
- Inflatable items such as dinghies, mattresses
- Soft toys and games
- Photocopiers
- Large wall units (over 4')
- Any gas appliances or tins containing paraffin, petrol or any other inflammables
- Old tins of paint
- Videos
- Sewing machines
- Electric hedge trimmers or any type of chainsaw
To arrange a pick-up please telephone
you on the day if we encounter any last-minute problems. We offer pick-ups within an hour long slot on an agreed date in order to try and minimise any disruption to your normal routine and to make the most effective use of our van. We do not make a charge for our collection service.
Examples of Fire Labels:-
The above labels are appropriate to new furniture which meets the filling requirements and is cigarette resistant, that is baby nests. The word 'product' may be substituted for the word 'furniture' on the second side of this label.
Appropriate to new furniture which meets the filling requirements and is both cigarette and match resistant.
Appropriate to new furniture with a limited range of cover fabrics. The cover fabric is not match resistant, but the furniture has an interliner which passes the specified test. The furniture meets the filling requirements and is cigarette resistant.