Winter coat season is officially here – and if you’re headed to the high street to buy a stylish new one, make sure you donate last year’s, rather than ditching it.
Wrap Up London (as part of the Hands On London charity) and the wider Wrap Up Family has launched its annual coat donation initiative for the 9th year.
With drop-off locations across the capital and the UK, Wrap Up collects your unwanted coats and donates them to charities that support the homeless, refugees, children living in poverty and people fleeing domestic violence.
The charity accepts coats and jackets in all shapes and sizes – although your heavy-duty styles are the most needed, particularly if they’re weather resistant. If you’re not sure if your coat is in a good enough condition, the campaign asks people to not give anything you wouldn’t want to receive yourself. Nobody wants a dirty coat, after all.
“Every year, it is a truly humbling experience to see hundreds of people coming together to help those most vulnerable in our community,” said Jon Meech, from Hands On London. ”Last year, 1,200 people came together and collected more than 27,000 warm coats.”
The coat collection initially started in the capital in 2011, but has since inspired other organisations across the country to get involved.
If you live in London, you can take your donation(s) to six of the major train stations between 7am - 11am from 11th - 13th November.
The stations are: Canary Wharf, Kings Cross St Pancras, London Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Waterloo, and Victoria. Or there’s a collection at Broadgate Centre London. Look for signs throughout the six stations and check updates on Wrap Up London’s Twitter account to find out where they are.
Alternatively, you can donate coats between 11th - 24th November at one of the Wrap Up London safestore locations in Chiswick, Clapham, Notting Hill and Kings Cross St Pancras.
Locations across the UK that are participating as part of the Wrap Up Family are listed below.
In partnership with Human Appeal:
Central Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leicester
In partnership with The Rotary Club:
Greater Manchester (with separate campaigns in Bolton, Salford and Stockport)
Cumbria (with separate campaigns in Cumbria North and Cumbria South)
In association with Homeless Newport and Pride in PIL:
In association with Prisoners’ Education Trust:
In association with Kuehne+Nagel and Daylight Centre Fellowship:
In association with Love Uxbridge and Trinity Homeless Projects:
In association with Genesis Trust and Bath University student volunteering society:
Don’t live near a donation point? The charity is working with CollectPlus and Yodel so you can donate your coat to your nearest Wrap Up campaign, even if you don’t live near any of the drop-off points.
Simply download a label for free from its website, and drop off your coat at one of the 7,000 CollectPlus Points across the UK.
If you’re inspired to start your own collection, get in touch with Wrap Up. To find out more information, visit its website here.