City charity shops braced for avalanche of donated items as they reopen doors after lockdown

Some charity shops have been slow to reopen due to many volunteers being older or vulnerable, but others are also finding the need to come up with new ways to receive donations as they brace themselves for a flood of items that people have been stockpiling during lockdown ‘spring-cleans’ at home.

Lincoln-based St Barnabas Hospice, which has 26 shops including outlets in Spalding and Bourne, says it is expecting to be inundated with donations.

Staff and volunteers are preparing for a deluge of donations as they prepare to conduct a phased opening of their charity shops across the region.

The charity has already put measures in place in Lincoln to offer a ‘drive-thru’ donation service where people book their slots and drop off their donations in a safe, socially-distanced way.

Head of Retail, Caroline Peach, said: “When the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to close our shops, we knew that we would have a deluge of donations when we were able to open back up. If you are desperate to donate, then you can book into the donation drive-thru we have running in Lincoln. It’s proved incredibly popular, but we have some slot in our second week available.”

The Hospice is advising that if you want to donate to a shop local to you, then the best option is to ring ahead to make sure they are open and have room for donations.

Caroline added: “Please focus on quality rather than quantity when thinking about donating. Ask yourself, would you buy it? If you can also stagger visiting your local shop so as not to overload them in the first few weeks, that would really help. Our wonderful volunteers and staff are doing their best, but would appreciate a steady stream.”

When the shops do eventually open, St Barnabas has to keep donations stored for 72 hours before prepping for sale. The charity’s army of volunteers is also looking at reduced opening hours so shops can clean and restock while closed to the public.

Caroline also points out that there are donations the Hospice cannot take: “We can’t accept anything that is broken, is missing parts or is dirty. We really appreciate vintage items, summer clothing, electrical, toys, jigsaws (complete with all pieces), household items and books.

“We are so very grateful to our supporters for saving their preloved items for us and can’t wait to open our shops again to welcome everyone back.”

The Hospice is also beginning its furniture collection service in mid-July. Supporters can book for the Hospice to collect large items from their homes as well as restarting its house clearance service from early August.

More info can be found at https://stbarnabashospice.co.uk/shop/houseclearance/

Their appointment-only ‘Book and Bring’ donation drive-thru, starts on Monday June 29 at the charity’s Central Warehouse at 12 Cardinal Close, Lincoln, LN2 4SY.

Caroline said: “We have decided to run the service until at least July 10.

Once booked on with a drop-off time, supporters are asked to join a specially-created one-way system that ensures donations can be dropped off and collected safely, all while social distancing guidelines are being met.

Caroline continued: “We’re anticipating a lot of donations and our booking system is already busy with people getting slots. We’d ask that people donating limit themselves to just six bags of clothing, bedding or toys and four boxes of books or homewares. We’re also limiting households to one booking per week, so please be mindful of this when you book! This will mean our teams of volunteers can sort, process and have our stores fully-stocked when we do open. To help with the safety of the event, we ask that you please do not come if you haven’t got a booked slot, as you may be turned away to avoid long queues.”

The British Heart Foundation has three furniture and clothing shops in the city, as well as outlets in Spalding, Bourne, Stamford, Whittlesey, Wisbech and Market Deeping.

Throughout June and July they are starting to reopen, introducing new measures to keep staff, volunteers and customers safe.

Allison Swaine-Hughes, the BHF’s Retail Director, said: “The BHF heavily relies on the generous donations of its supporters. We’ve already been delighted by the number of donations that we have received since we reopened a small number of shops last week.

“Our new contact-free donation points have been hugely successful, with one shop receiving more than 100 bags of donations before lunchtime on its opening day. That’s more than double they would have received on a normal weekday.

“For those who want to donate but don’t want to hit the shops just yet, we have launched a free postal donation service, where customers can donate their smaller, good quality items via post.

“It’s the perfect solution if your local BHF shop is not yet open and you have items you want to give, or you’re simply not ready to head to the high street.”

Customers can head to the webpage, request a freepost label which will be emailed to them and then choose to either print the label off or bring the email in to one of 7,500 nationwide Collect+ drop off points to be printed off there. Packages can be up to 10kg.

Allison said: “Our charity shops run purely on the support of the public, which is why we never take for granted a camera, record or video game that’s donated to us. Every item we sell helps support the 7.4 million people in the UK living with heart and circulatory diseases, many of whom are at increased risk from Covid-19.”

Further information about shopping and donating with the BHF is at: https://www.bhf.org.uk/shop

In line with Government advice and to keep customers safe, all donations given to shops will now be rested for 72 hours before being placed onto the shop floor. Customers will also be able to donate at new contact-free donation points which will be set up at every BHF shop entrance. For larger donations to home stores they will be restarting their free collection service once home stores reopen – ensuring all pick-ups are socially distanced.

Nick Smith, Head of Retail at Age UK, said the charity has reopened 67 shops across the country since June 15, including the Peterborough Gateway and Bretton shops.

He added: “We’re very grateful to the public for the great response we’ve seen so far in terms of the number of shoppers and donations. We continue to work hard on preparations for reopening more of our shops in phases over the coming weeks and months.

“Older people are among the hardest hit by the pandemic and they need our support now more than ever, so we’d urge the public to drop off any good quality items they might have cleared out during lockdown to their nearest shop if it’s reopened, or if it hasn’t opened yet to hold on to items until it’s able to do so. Any surplus donations will be held in storage or moved to another of our shops if required, so every donation will make a difference in helping to fund the charity’s vital work supporting older people.

“Protecting our customers, staff and volunteers is crucial and shops are of course following Government guidance. Safety measures are in place, such as social distancing, holding of donated items for a minimum of 72 hours before sales, and provision of PPE for all staff and volunteers. All clothing items are steamed and items such as bric-a-brac, books and toys are thoroughly wiped down.

“We will also want to welcome many more volunteers so we’d encourage anyone who isn’t shielding, or who may be on furlough, to call their nearest Age UK shop if they can spare a few hours.”

“nnouncements about the next phase of openings and those shops not reopening are expected soon.