Building creativity and confidence in children through simple donations

A Good Thing is an online platform that allows businesses to give things away to their local charities. Less to landfill, more to a good cause! The case study below is an example of the wonderful impact that can be made through these matches.

In the words of Picasso

As Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” These words remind us why it’s so important to nurture creativity early, giving children the tools, opportunity and confidence to express themselves freely.

Here at A Good Thing, we’ve seen just how powerful a simple donation can be. Thanks to the generosity of Portsmouth-based Hambleside Merchandise, local children and families are being given new ways to unlock their creativity, learn and grow.

Creating an impact in Scotland and the Midlands

At The Base youth club outside Edinburgh, Scotland, the impact was immediate, as Samantha Jenkinson from the charity told us:

“The donated folders have been a fantastic addition to our craft sessions, helping our children create and also organise their artwork with pride.”

Midlands-based creative arts charity RicNic shared how the folders became part of its Story Tents project, supporting children to develop literacy and storytelling skills, according to Hannah Lindsey:

“The folders donated by Hambleside Merchandise have been on quite a journey so far. We have used them as part of our Story Tents project, which supports children and young people to develop their literacy and storytelling skills. The folders were initially given to a class of Year 8 pupils (ages 12/13) who relabelled them and filled them with activity sheets for younger audiences. They then added the folders to giveaway bags, which are now being distributed to families. Since June, 70 of the 200 have already gone out, encouraging more creative learning at home.”

Hannah added:

“RicNic is so grateful to Hambleside for this donation of folders. As a charity we aim to make our projects free for all young people to access, removing barriers to entry that ticketed events can present. Donations such as these mean that we can continue to focus our funding on offering this free delivery. This donation has also allowed us to send every child away from our sessions with a free activity pack, encouraging more creative learning and family engagement in the home.”

Grateful for the postage costs being covered

At the Bradford-based Sedbergh Youth & Community Centre charity, the practical benefits of the donation of folders were clear, as Lucy O’Farrell explained:

“The first time we used A Good Thing was when we received the folders kindly donated by Hambleside. These have been really useful for our organisation and have helped us save money. The folders are ideal for filing, archiving and even for presentation purposes. Hambleside were also very kind in covering the postage for the first batch, which made a real difference, as postage costs are often what hold us back from requesting items through A Good Thing. Overall, the donation has been a great addition and has saved our charity a significant amount of money.”

Keeping precious artwork safe

And at The Vale Pantry in Dorset, the folders are being used every day across all ages:

“The folders are being put to good use within our family hub, thank you. The youngsters coming in use them to store any written homework pieces. The small ones, when doing craft and painting activities, use them to take home their artwork!”

It’s a simple truth

These stories highlight a simple truth: something as small as a donated folder can have a big impact. These folders have helped children to create, organise and take pride in their work. They have freed up charities’ budgets to focus on delivering vital services. They have brought families together through shared creativity.

Every donation makes a difference – not just to charities, but to the children whose imaginations they inspire. With every notebook, folder and activity pack, we’re helping to build confidence, nurture self-expression and keep the artist alive in every child.