Every year, the team at BlueSKY nominate a local charity where we focus our annual fundraising efforts. You might recall that we supported the Bucks, Berks, and Oxon Wildlife Trust in 2021.
This year, we have picked another local charity close to our hearts – and also because some of the relatives of our team are directly involved with this great cause.
Read on to find out more about our 2022 chosen charity, and how you can help with an upcoming fundraising event.
Helping local people who have fallen on hard times
Established in 2018, The Cowshed is a new charity that provides support to people of all backgrounds in a time of personal crisis.
The aim of The Cowshed is to provide good quality cleaned and ironed clothes and other essentials free to anyone in need.
The charity receives clothes donated by the general public, retailers and manufacturers. On receipt, they are then sorted, washed, and ironed at The Cowshed’s premises ready to be delivered or collected by social services, other health professionals or their own clients.
The idea is that Cowshed clients feel they are receiving a gift to assist them in a time of crisis rather than some old clothes that are worn, marked or damaged. The charity has a three-way impact:
- Helping those most in need in the local community
- Recycling used clothing
- Creating community groups.
All items are provided free of charge and the charity’s clients can even visit to The Cowshed to select and try on items should they wish.
Help us by donating good quality clothing at our special event
If you’d like to support this brilliant cause, it’s easy to do. All you need to do is root through your wardrobes and donate any great quality clothes that you no longer want or need.
Find a full list of items that The Cowshed are looking for on their website.
Please note that the items must be clean, and any suits must have been dry cleaned.
Then, all you need to do is pop the items around to us. We are opening the BlueSKY office on Saturday 16 July between 9 am and 12 noon to accept any clothing donations.
It would be lovely to see you for a chat over a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit. If you are unable to come and see us with your donations on the day, then please contact us as we may be able to make other arrangements.
Donating your clothes can also help to save the planet
As well as the support to local communities experiencing a tough time, the charity also tackles an important environmental issue – the recycling of clothes.
A recent BBC Earth report highlighted the problem of “new” returned clothes ending up in a rubbish dump. If you have returned an item to a retailer – perhaps because it didn’t fit – this item will often simply end up in landfill.
Of course, this is a huge environmental issue. Sarah Needham from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at University of the Arts London says: “We know that many of the products that are returned end up in landfill before we even use them, which only adds to the vast amounts of used items already ending up in landfill […] These products use precious resources which are becoming scarce and we are throwing them away unnecessarily.”
If you have new, or nearly new clothes, it could be much more beneficial to donate them to The Cowshed. Here, the charity can put them to excellent use with someone who really needs them, rather than them ending up in a dump.
Get in touch
A reminder that you can bring your clothing donations to the BlueSKY office on Saturday 16 July between 9 am and 12 noon.
If you can’t make it on that day, but have donations, please email info@blueskyifas.co.uk or call us on 01189 876655 and we will see if we can make alternative arrangements.