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: Featured in the picture are Jacquie Roper, Lindley Shop Manager and Richard Bradley, co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card.
Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, 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.
Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, who support babies and children with life-shortening conditions and their families across West Yorkshire, are now selling and accepting it in its fourteen shops.
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.
Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice joins Yorkshire Cat Rescue and Prince of Wales Hospice in accepting the card in the region with the shops of Kirkwood Hospice and St Gemma’s Hospice launching with The Charity Shop Gift Card later in August. Charity shoppers in West Yorkshire will soon have a huge number of shops where to redeem their voucher making an ideal gift.
The scheme supports 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, a minimum of 65% of the gift card scheme’s surplus 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.
Andrea Titherington-Kay, Trading Manager at Forget Me Not, said: “The staff at our leading children’s hospice deliver outstanding care to children and families day in day out, but this wouldn’t be possible without our charity shops. They generate so much of the vital income we need to continue delivering care, so we’re excited to generate even more via The Charity Shop Gift Card. Alongside the economic benefits, we’re excited that the scheme will encourage shoppers to make sustainable decisions and choose pre-loved over fast fashion.”
Lee Fellows, Co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card, said: “We’re delighted to now be working with Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, adding some great charity shops to the network of shops in West Yorkshire. The scheme is now growing rapidly, with the nearby neighbour of Kirkwood Hospice launching later in August. Our expansion provides consumers with further options, making the voucher a fantastic gift for keen secondhand shoppers.”
For more information:
www.thecharityshopgiftcard.co.uk
https://www.forgetmenotchild.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
· Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice supports babies and children with life-shortening conditions and their families across West Yorkshire.
- Forget Me Not offers a wide range of services right from pregnancy, including superb nursing care, hydrotherapy, creative therapy, days out, memory making, end of life care, bereavement support and counselling, and much more, all available to the whole family.
- Forget Me Not was the first children’s hospice in Europe to employ a midwife.
- With just a fraction of the funds it needs coming from the government, the charity must raise over £5m in charitable donations each year to ensure it is able to give the children and families the support they need.
For more information about Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice please visit www.forgetmenotchild.co.uk
