Household goods

Even if your old curtains or toys are past their best we’ll welcome your unwanted items with open arms. There’s very little that has no value at all and we are expert recyclers – we were recently awarded the title of Recycler of the Year.

To find your nearest shop, use our local shops directory, or call 0800 169 8787 - we have more than 480 shops across the UK.

What can I donate?

Here’s just a selection of things we want:

• Curtains, linens and other home furnishing
• Vases, photo frames, plant pots
• Books
• Jewellery
• Toys and jigsaw puzzles
• CDs
• Videos and DVDs

We can recycle almost anything. From old hardback books that are falling apart – their covers can be used as stiffening material – to broken jewellery, which can be taken apart and used to make new items or, if it’s made of gold, silver or platinum, traded for the value of the metal.

The only things we can’t accept are electrical goods and batteries. These should be disposed of safely in accordance with your local council’s advice.

How to donate

• Drop off items at your local shop during working hours - please do not leave them outside if the shop is shut
• Fill an Age UK donation bag. From time to time our stock collectors will post a bag through your door – just leave it outside on the collection day and we’ll pick it up.
• If you have several bags and can't drop them off yourself, contact your local shop to arrange a collection. The more you have the more economical it will be for us - maybe your family, friends and neighbours have things we can collect at the same time.

Don’t just donate it, Gift Aid it

Sign up for Gift Aid when you bring in your goods and increase the value of your donation by approximately 25%.

If you are a UK tax payer, just complete a simple declaration when you make a donation and we can claim 25 pence back in tax at no cost to you - your tax code won’t be affected either. So for every £10 we make from your donations, we get £12.50.

Once your donation has been sold, you will receive a notification by post or by email (which saves the charity money) for you to confirm you want the money raised donated under the Gift Aid scheme. You only need to reply if you don’t want to donate the proceeds of the sale.