When we started our craft sessions with guys at a homeless hostel, we had virtually no budget and had to rely on cheap pound shop craft supplies to decorate the printables we were using. Little did we know what was about to happen!
Donated Craft Supplies, Appreciated by All!
I made a simple post on Facebook about broadening our reach to other disadvantaged groups, and one of our Designers, ArdaCards, asked if we needed any supplies since she had a few bits and bats that she could send – wow! Yes, please! Quickly after that, another lady offered to send us some unwanted freebies from magazines, templates, die cuts etc. This was fantastic! She also shared the post to her own crafting group and from there, we had another 2 ladies who said they could send things to us – including a Grand Calibur! Parcels were coming thick and fast from friends and strangers.
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Snowball in Motion
As part of our new Crafting4Good social enterprise, we had planned to accept craft donations further down the line because we were aware that a lot can go to waste (see below).
The idea was to do it when we had space to store, sort and organise it, but it was suddenly happening NOW … and I wasn’t going to say no. Bring those donations on!
Soon we had people contacting me to send their unwanted craft supplies – those that are old, outdated, no longer ‘on trend’, languishing in cupboards and drawers, the fruits of a de-clutter or papers, die cuts and offcuts they don’t want and will never use.
We’ve had rubber stamps, die-cutting templates, die cutting machines, decoupage sheets, pens, inks … all of this is fantastic and the more the merrier – the more we have, the more people we can help with creative sessions in the community.
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If we get stuff we can’t make use of, we can pass it on to other community groups and social enterprises that can use them. Having received these donations, we were able to take lots of goodies to our homeless craft sessions and the guys had much more to get creative with – including discovering decoupage and adult colouring!
Throwing Your Stash in the Bin…
A big stash of lovingly collected goodies, often costing quite a lot of money, just being thrown in the bin – not this batch obviously, but it happens.
Imagine throwing this in the bin?
But How Could Goodies End Up in the Bin?!
There are many reasons why a lovingly curated craft stash can sometimes end up in the bin.
What IS All This ‘Stuff’ ?!
Credit: Unknown
Whether intentionally fed ‘alternative facts’ or not, many non-crafters just don’t realise what your stuff is, or what it’s worth.
After publishing this page, we got an email from a lady saying:
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“I know that my other half doesn’t realise the value of my crafty stash and, like the lady in your example, I wouldn’t dream of telling him how much I actually spend! I don’t belong to a craft group, or have any crafty friends nearby so if anything happened to me he wouldn’t have a clue what to do with it – until now that is.”
We also got this lovely note in a donation, confirming that stuff can get chucked out when people don’t know what else to do with it or when they think nobody is going to want all their crafty bits and pieces…
Craft Donations Avoiding Landfill
Reasons why craft supplies end up in the bin…
- Crafters go into care homes with no close relatives to deal with their stuff, or sometimes they pass away in those care homes with no family and their belongings might be disposed of (as I was told by a care home provider staff member, not sure if that’s what normally happens?)
- People might know what all this craft stuff is, and that’s it’s worth something to someone, but they don’t have the ability, time or inclination to send it to charity or sell it on eBay
- Sometimes, bereaved family are grief stricken, can’t bear to see it or deal with it because it causes them pain to be reminded of their loved one crafting away, and quite understandably, want to have it gone – this happened to one of us, when their mother died, helping to spark the idea of Crafting4Good in the first place.
Got Unwanted Craft Supplies?
Want to put your unwanted crafty bits to good use instead of being in your cupboard? Having a declutter?
The bin should be a last resort – there’s too much waste going into landfill as it is these days, and that’s no place for glitter, ribbon and pretties!
1. Look Local:
- Local charity shops
- Local community groups
- Local residential care homes
- Local hospices
- Local churches
I’m sure they would be more than happy to receive your supplies, although they might not know what certain tools and gadgets are!
2. Donate to Us
Apologies but we cannot take donations at the moment – please check your options local to you above.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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