Oxfam’s shop in Galway has called on people to donate unwanted Christmas gifts after a new survey by the charity shows that more than 8 out of 10 (86%) people in Connacht have received them, with clothes (60%), beauty products/toiletries (55%) and books (40%) top of the list.
Other unpopular presents included jewellery (35%), gadgets (26%) and homewares (23%).
The findings were part of a nationwide survey which also showed that 85% (86% in Connacht) of Irish adults would consider donating their unwanted Christmas gifts to a charity shop, with females (88%) more open to donating than men (82%).
The Oxfam shop on Lower Abbeygate Street is appealing to this generosity and calling for donations of unwanted Christmas gifts which could help raise vital funds for the charity’s life-saving work worldwide in 2015.
Oxfam charity shops, with over 51 locations across Ireland, are in critical need of donations to raise funds for Oxfam’s programmes, including the ongoing emergency response in Syria and South Sudan.
Oxfam Ireland’s Head of Retail Michael McIlwaine said: “No matter how small the donation, every little helps. It takes just a moment to bag an unwanted gift but it could change a life forever.
“Our shops want the things you don’t and welcome donations of the entire top five unwanted Christmas presents: clothes, beauty products, books, gadgets and jewellery, as well as bags and accessories, CDs, DVDs, homewares, soft furnishings, furniture and even wedding dresses.
“So think twice before binning that unwanted present or shoving it to the back of the wardrobe. We are calling on people to support their local Oxfam shop by dropping in those less than perfect presents and other unwanted items.
“The vital funds your gifts will raise mean we can continue our life-saving work, from emergency response in places like Syria and South Sudan and long-term projects that lift people out of poverty to campaigning that gives a voice to the vulnerable.”
By donating unwanted gifts and other items to your local Oxfam, here’s how you’ll be helping to change lives:
The sale of that “too-big” top for €8/£6 could help purify around 2,000 litres of water, making it safe to drink for South Sudanese families living in makeshift camps
The sale of an unopened cosmetics set sold for €15/£11 could give a family in the Democratic Republic of Congo an eco-friendly efficient stove, designed to be hotter than traditional cooking methods while using only half the wood
That gift of a necklace that just isn’t to your taste sold for €30/£24 could feed a child orphaned by AIDS in Malawi for three and a half months
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