Delivery company InPost has teamed up with homelessness charity Shelter to launch a new charity campaign, Secret Senda, which will see InPosts 2500 UK lockers used to send charitable donations to Shelter free of charge.
It coincides with consumer research commissioned by InPost, which reveals that the average person is sitting on £400 worth of unwanted items. But despite this, nearly one in five (19%) people will throw away unwanted but valuable items, rather than donating them to charity – with the key excuse for doing so being ‘a lack of time’.
According to Shelter, a household becomes homeless in England every four minutes, and last Christmas alone there were 120,000 children without a home and in temporary accommodation.
Today’s partnership provides consumers with an easy and convenient way to donate, in a bid to support all those whose lives have been impacted by the loss of their home. InPost lockers are accessible 24/7 and positioned at locations such as train stations, petrol forecourts and supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons and Lidl.
To use the service, consumers must ensure their donated items are well packaged and visit the InPost website to download a mobile QR code. This code will unlock their chosen locker, and ensure the package is safely secured ready for collection and delivery to Shelter.
Jason Tavaria, CEO of InPost comments: “We are extremely proud to partner with Shelter to launch the Secret Senda campaign this Christmas. We know that consumers want to do the right thing and support charities but sometimes struggle with the logistics of dropping off their items. Our partnership will help to remove this barrier by opening up our locker network for hassle-free donations, 24/7, while also helping to keep Shelter’s charity shops stocked over the coming winter month.”
Andy Harris, director of fundraising from Shelter has adds: “We’re in the grips of a housing emergency, millions of people don’t have a safe and secure home. Too many have faced a difficult year in cold, damps flats, in unsuitable and unsafe temporary accommodation, or even on the streets. As growing numbers of people need our support, we need yours. Good quality clothes, bags, shoes, accessories and homeware are all really welcome and we’d like to thank people in advance for every donation.”
Sainsbury’s pledges £3m to brighten Christmas
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has launched this year’s ‘Help Brighten a Million Christmases’ initiative, with every single donation being matched by the supermarket up to the value of £1.5 million.
With the aim of raising a total of over £3 million, the campaign builds on Sainsbury’s year-round work with its charitable partners to provide vital support to those who need it most over the festive period. Sainsbury’s is committed to ensuring that more people can celebrate this year without hunger, making sure it’s a Christmas to savour for everyone.
During the season of giving, every £1 customer donation provides the equivalent of two hot meals, so once matched by Sainsbury’s, each £1 donated could help feed four people in need. Once matched by Sainsbury’s, the generosity of customers could have a huge impact with the potential to help feed up to 12 million families this Christmas.
With ‘Help Brighten a Million Christmases’ fundraising efforts running between 1st – 24th December, customers can donate physical products in over 1200 Sainsbury’s stores across the UK, or donate money at checkout points in all Sainsbury’s and Argos stores, via SmartShop in participating Sainsbury’s stores and when shopping online at Sainsbury’s and Argos.
To ensure those who need it most receive food, this year Sainsbury’s is working with FareShare and other charity partners across the UK to distribute donations.
In February 2021, Sainsbury’s made it even easier for customers to donate to FareShare by providing them with a way to donate directly when shopping online all year round. Since the initial trial, the service has seen over £1 million donated, providing the equivalent of 2 million meals.Throughout December, online donations will continue to go towards FareShare, but will become part of Help Brighten a Million Christmases, with Sainsbury’s matching donations until Christmas Eve, up to the value of £1.5 million.
Lindsay Boswell, CEO at FareShare says: “FareShare is very grateful for the enormous support we receive from Sainsbury’s and are delighted to partner on Help Brighten a Million Christmases for the second year, with Sainsbury’s matching donations. Sainsbury’s customers showed great generosity last Christmas and throughout the year, donating the equivalent of 1,598,000 meals to FareShare through the Groceries Online campaign. As we head into winter, we know our charities are needing more support than ever to provide for people in our communities”.
Mark Given, Chief Marketing Officer at Sainsbury’s adds: “We know that this Christmas may be challenging for people across the UK, which is why we’re doing all that we can to help those in need. We’re proud of all the work we’ve done to support vulnerable communities over the last year and we’re determined to make sure we brighten millions of Christmases this festive season. Each year we’re overwhelmed with our customers’ generosity not only at Christmas but throughout the whole year and we hope that by working together, our donations can really make a difference to others this December.”
Since August 2021, the retailer has also partnered with Neighbourly to manage back of store food donations, helping to connect Sainsbury’s stores with local partners who redistribute food to those in need. Since coming together, Sainsbury’s has donated more than 373,000 meals.
Additionally, this autumn Sainsbury’s launched a Helping Everyone Eat Better grant, which will see hundreds of donations go to local partners who have been nominated by Sainsbury’s stores. The grant will facilitate the donation of £1 million to support projects helping those experiencing food poverty and tackling food waste. Examples include partners using the grant to improve kitchen catering facilities (Poor and Hungry CIC Ltd) or improve their food donation programme capacity by leasing electric transportation (Sussex Community Development Association). The fund aims to make a difference to hundreds of good causes across the UK.
