Trauma teddies and doggy blankets: Decluttering donations that give more than once

What do you do with a tea chest size box of wool and craft materials that you don’t want to take with you to your new home? 

Or a pile of towels and blankets you don’t need?

You give it to a group of people who can put the gift to good use.

Emma and Gail, 2 of our Lifestyle Change clients were moving. Most of the decluttering had been done and what was left were things that were simply too good to throw away but no longer needed by them.

But what do you do with it all?

While no two lifestyle changes are ever the same, there are some similarities. First of all:

• Our client has the final say in what happens to their belongings and possessions. While the NE Lifestyle Change Coordinator can make some suggestions, it is the client who decides what ultimately happens to the items.

As we work through the decluttering process, organising skip bins and the team who can assist, we ensure:

• Rubbish is discarded
• Old paperwork that is no longer required is shredded for security reasons
• Bedding, towels, tea towels are donated: We always ask if we can donate these particular items to an animal refuge as most op shops have more than enough of these things.
• Furniture and household goods that are no needed:
  • We try and sell as much as we can for the client – local antique collectors and house clearers will sometimes purchase these items, or we list the items for sale directly onto a number of online resources. Money that we receive is then returned to the client.
  • We contact a local charitable organisation that collects household furniture including beds and white goods to assist people coming out of domestic violence situations to set up a new home. This is a great way to recycle things that would otherwise end up in landfill. And.,
• We source groups of people who would benefit from receiving the donations. Men’s sheds are always keen to obtain tools, animal shelters love to receive blankets and towels, and we knew of a group of enterprising ladies who could and would make good use of the wool and craft materials.,

Enterprising Craft Ladies

Emma and Gail, the two ladies who were moving, said they would like the wool and materials to go to a good home, and we knew the perfect place. After making the appointment, and collecting the tea chest and a trolley from the storage unit, Elle drove the box down to Stockland’s Affinity village in Baldivis.

Carol, one of the crafting ladies was delighted to receive the bounty and explained that the wool would be used to create trauma teddies for children going into hospital, and told Elle they had donated approximately 700 trauma teddies so far. Carol went on to explain that any material that was donated to them was used to create quilts for children going into care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s wonderful to see the donated material will be put to very good use, and our thanks to Emma and Gail for their kind donations.

If we can assist you in your decluttering project, please don’t hesitate to call us on 1300 NE Solution (1300 637 658)
#recyling #upcycling #nesolutions #nethingtohelp