Please see below some of our most frequently asked questions. If you have any other questions that aren’t answered here, please contact us.
Who can participate in the scheme?
Our scheme is open to small independent charity shops who don’t have the same support as high street charity shop brands.
Do we get paid?
YES! We will pay for your surplus stock.
Do we have to pay for your services?
No, it’s completely free!
How often will you collect from us?
We have a minimum requirement of 40 filled refuse sacks. Once you have that available for us to collect, we can organise a suitable time and date.
What textiles can be recycled?
Any dry textiles can be recycled, but not all would necessarily be paid depending on their condition. Items that are not paid for would be sent to third world countries free of charge, so you can be assured that nothing will be wasted or dumped in landfill sites.
Am I tied into a contract?
Absolutely not. All we ask is for one month’s notice should you wish to stop using our services so we can reorganise our driver availability.
Do you have insurance?
Charity Surplus (under the umbrella of Green People London Ltd) takes the protection of our clients and our company very seriously. To this end, we hold the following insurances: Public Liability, Products Liability, Employers Liability, Tools and Trade Materials and Terrorism. We are underwritten by Thistle Underwriting Services to the value of £5,000,000.
What do you do with the clothes you collect?
Once we have collected your surplus stock, all items are hand sorted and separated for specific destinations around the world. All Grade A clothes consist of being 100% wearable, in good shape and colour with no marks or stains and these will be sent to shops just like the second-hand shops we have in the UK. We also supply shops in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, The Czech Republic and many more countries where they will be resold to help those struggling communities.
All Grade B clothing and school wear would go further afield to our partners in Africa, Ghana, Cameroon and The Ivory Coast and may be over-washed, slightly misshapen or have small marks on. Any bedding that is donated also gets a second lease of life by being used as dust sheets for painting garages and shops or cut up for rags in car washes – so a massive 85% gets a second use.
Closer to home and here in the UK, all new underwear including new socks are given to our charity partner, Hands On London, whose volunteers distribute these to our vulnerable homeless people on the streets of London. Similarly, any sleeping bags are donated to our homeless charities and we have recently donated a generous supply to The Spitalfields Crypt Trust.
We quite often receive new balls of knitting wool which we pass on to our ladies at The Samaritans who in turn pass on, free of charge, to other knitting enthusiasts who make soft toys for children and donate them to paediatric hospitals and children’s charities; nothing is wasted.
Do you accept branded/unbranded school uniforms?
Yes, we do accept school uniforms and other school wear but these items will NOT count towards your collection total. However, we do have a sister website where you can donate school uniforms FREE of charge to help families who need support. Please see www.freeuniforms4kids.co.uk