Open Hands offers a helping hand

Well before the term ‘circular economy’ became common, charity shops across the UK showcased circularity, enabling people to donate old and thrift new items outside of mainstream shopping channels. However, even charities can be overburdened with too much ‘stuff’. And that’s where A Good Thing can help.

Open Hands is a Leicestershire-based charity that provides essential services to those experiencing poverty, homelessness or unemployment. This support could be anything from an emergency hot meal to a weekly food shop, new bedding or an advice-and-skills training session. Regardless of the situation that a person finds themselves in, Open Hands helps to provide a stable foundation upon which they can find their feet and progress forwards in their lives.

Recently, Open Hands found themselves with a coffee machine and a fridge-freezer to spare. Using A Good Thing’s platform, they were able to list and quickly pass on these surplus items to fellow charitable organisations. As Matt Tomlin, Furniture Services Manager at Open Hands, told us: “some of these items previously would have gone to landfill, so it’s great to have a platform that enables us to pass them on to other charities … A Good Thing is a really helpful resource for us”.

Rehoming resources: staying local and travelling afar

Rather than rusting away at the tip, the coffee machine now ‘looks good!’ in its new home. The match was made locally, and employees at the Leicestershire Action for Mental Health Project (LAMP) are now well-caffeinated. LAMP is a mental health charity, advocating for and supporting people with autism, dementia, social and emotional mental health needs, as well as their carers. Gareth James, CEO of LAMP advocacy, described the A Good Thing process as ‘straightforward’ and said the coffee machine match ‘went really well’.

The fridge-freezer travelled further afield, to the Bameen charity in Hull. Bameen encourages food sovereignty in black and ethnic minority neighbourhoods, and residents are getting involved in all sorts of food-production projects including community gardens and offshoot community enterprises. It’s hungry work, but thanks to the donation by Open Hands Bameen now has another fridge-freezer in which to store and preserve the fruits of its labour.

A statement from Dawda Jatta MBE, the founder of Bameen, epitomises the A Good Thing mission to increase reuse efforts everywhere: “it’s a fantastic tool to further reduce waste and enhance the efficiency of resource-sharing efforts”.

Charities supporting charities

These matches really illustrate the knock-on effect of using A Good Thing: strengthened connectivity between charity organisations. For Dawda, using A Good Thing gave Bameen a new fridge-freezer, but also “streamlined the process of connecting with other organisations, helping Bameen to maximise the impact of [their] resources”. In this match specifically, the A Good Thing platform made the distance between the two charities redundant and their collaboration possible.

It can be difficult for charities to say ‘no’ to donations, and they can end up with things they don’t need. Does your charity have something to give? It might be practical, pretty or maybe just quirky. Whatever it is, there could be another charity out there that would benefit from such a donation.

Sign up to A Good Thing here, allow your junk to become another organisation's jewel, and potentially forge meaningful new connections with fellow charities – driving positive change right across the country.