Six Charities You Can Support When Clearing Out Your Home after Christmas
Show you care this new year
The People’s Kitchen
Based in: Newcastle.
What they do: The charity supports homeless and vulnerable local people by combatting hunger and loneliness.
How to help: The People’s Kitchen accept donations in a number of ways including food donations. If you find you have plenty of unopened food left over from the festive season, give them a call in advance to find out if they can use what you have to help them dish up warm, nutritious meals to the people they help.
Great North Air Ambulance
Based in: The charity has bases across Cumbria and the North East of England.
What they do: They operate three air ambulance helicopters for rapid response medical care in difficult to reach environments like moors and mountain ranges, and cover an area of around 8,000 square miles.
How to help: Have any unwanted gifts left over from Christmas? The Great North Air Ambulance service will happily accept non-monetary donations of all kinds. These donations can be used by the charity at raffles and auctions to hit their yearly needed target of £5.2 million.
Clothe and Feed
Based in: Locations across the North East including Wallsend, South Shields and Sunderland.
What they do: They operate the largest Baby Bank in the region and provide free baby equipment, clothing and toiletries for struggling families.
How to help: If you’re trying to make space in your home for all the new toys that the kids got, why not consider donating some of the old baby equipment you find? Baths, highchairs, cots and pushchairs can all be of use to the charity. They’ll also accept games and soft toys, perfect for a post-Christmas clear out.
FareShare Yorkshire
Based in: Barnsley and Leeds.
What they do: FareShare tackle food poverty by redistributing quality, in-date surplus food which would have been wasted to more than 400 charities, schools and community groups across the region.
How to help: Everyone ends up buying more food than they need during the festive season, and this is the perfect way to make sure nothing goes to waste. The charity typically makes collections from local supermarkets and says that even if food has three days left, it can usually be picked up and redistributed within 48 hours. Check in with your local supermarket to see if they participate.
The Clothing Bank
Based in: More than 130 drop-off points across Yorkshire.
What they do: Established in January 2020, this charity aims to help those in society who are struggling to clothe themselves and may not have access to other means of support. Specifically, it was created for those who fall just above the poverty line, but still struggle with the day-to-day cost of living.
How to help: You can contact the nearest volunteer to you to arrange a drop-off donation of clothes. The charity accepts baby and children’s clothing, adult clothing, bras, shoes, bags, outdoor clothing and school uniforms. This is a great cause to support when sorting through your wardrobe after Christmas.
Cancer Support Yorkshire
Based in: Bradford, with 44 donation sites across Yorkshire.
What they do: The charity offers practical and emotional support to people diagnosed with cancer and their families including counselling, transportation assistance and welfare advice.
How to help: In partnership with Recycling Solutions, the charity has 44 clothing donation sites across Yorkshire where you can drop off good quality clothing, shoes, belts and handbags. The items are then sorted through and recycled with a good percentage of the recycled value going to the charity.
Please contact organisations directly to confirm what they need, and how you can help.
