The only multi-charity gift card is a social enterprise that helps people give more sustainably, buy more consciously and support good causes.
PHOTO CAPTION: Sheena Flavell, volunteer, Richard Jackson, the hospice’s Retail Manager and Muriel Little, volunteer
‘Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw, Cumbria’s Children’s Hospice is now accepting The Charity Shop Gift Card — the only nationally accepted, multi-retailer gift card that can be spent exclusively in charity shops.
The Charity Shop Gift Card is a not-for-profit that has been developed and launched in association with the Charity Retail Association.
Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw is now selling and accepting it in its four shops, which provides care for adults with life limiting illnesses from North Cumbria and children and young adults from across the whole of the county.
The gift card for good is being accepted by regional charities in most areas of the UK and in the national network of shops run by Marie Curie, Shelter, Crisis, YMCA and The Children’s Society.
The scheme will support the growing second-hand revolution, which is helping to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. It will also help national and regional charities boost their own income by giving them their first collective opportunity to tap into the £7billion-a-year gift card market.
The Charity Retail Association has 450 members with 9,000 shops, and together they are already diverting over 300,000 tonnes of textiles away from landfill and contributing over £300million to help fund the work of their parent charities.
As a social enterprise, the majority of the gift card scheme’s profits will go towards funding charity gift cards for good causes to donate to the communities they are supporting.
The gift cards themselves are recyclable and compostable and are available from participating charities and at supermarkets and other major high street retailers. They can be purchased as e-vouchers from www.thecharityshopgiftcard.co.uk,
The Charity Shop Gift Card is a member of Social Enterprise UK, and the Gift Card and Voucher Association.
Richard Jackson, Retail Manager for Eden Valley Hospice, said: “As a hospice charity that depends so much on funds to deliver our services to the people of Cumbria, we loved the idea of the gift card as a way of engaging our supporters and hopefully introducing new people to the great preloved items available in our amazing hospice shops”
As part of the launch the hospice will be offering people the chance to win 2 x £20 gift cards through a Facebook competition via their dedicated shops account – https://www.facebook.com/EVHandJigsawShops. Supporters will be invited to like, share and follow to win one of the cards.
Lee Fellows, Co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Eden Valley Hospice to offer a gift card that can have such an impact. Not only does it help raise vital funds for the hospice but it also helps reduce landfill by giving a second use to the high quality donated goods available in their shops.”
For more information:
www.thecharityshopgiftcard.co.uk
ENDS
Notes to editors
*Valuing the UK Gift Card Industry 2020 report was compiled by the Gift Card and Voucher Association (GCVA)
Key statistics from the Charity Retail Association — www.charityretail.org.uk/key-statistics
- Charity shops contribute £331million a year to parent charities
- Charity shops save councils £31million a year in waste disposal charges by divert 339,000 tonnes of textiles away from landfill or incineration
- Charity shops have more than 25,500 FTE employees
Find out where The Charity Shop Gift Card is being accepted across the UK at www.thecharityshopgiftcard.co.uk/stores
