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 photo are Dee Ranson, shop manager and Janice Whitaker, deputy shop manager from the Hunslet shop.
St Gemma’s Hospice, based in Leeds, 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 initiative that has been developed and launched in association with the Charity Retail Association.
St Gemma’s Hospice is now selling and accepting it in its twenty-four shops in Leeds, which support the hospice in providing expert care for people diagnosed with terminal illnesses. Alongside this, St Gemma’s works to complete pioneering research, whilst educating on palliative care too.
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.
St Gemma’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 Forget Me Not Children’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 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, 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.
Chris Davey, Deputy Head of Retail for St Gemma’s Hospice, said: “To continue our vital work this year, we need to raise 72% of our running costs ourselves. The revenue generated in our chain of charity shops forms a significant part of this. Therefore, we are delighted to join the rapidly growing scheme and introduce more consumers to the charity shopping community, offering a way for customers to shop sustainably and support charity too.”
Lee Fellows, Co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card, said: ““We’re delighted to now be working with St Gemma’s, adding to the shops available to spend cards in West Yorkshire. With Prince of Wales Hospice and Yorkshire Cat Rescue already in the scheme and both Forget Me Nots and The Kirkwood joining the scheme soon, there is an amazing choice of charity shops across the region.”
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
