Thank you very much for thinking of The Connection for your donation of gifts-in-kind.
The Connection has expanded our range of services that help homeless people to recover from homelessness and move on to a brighter future. As a result, there is now less storage space for gifts-in-kind. This means that, unfortunately, we are only able to accept a very limited range of donations due to our restricted storage capacity.
If you are still able to donate any of the below, we would love to hear from you! We would be very grateful if you could email fundraising@cstm.org.uk before bringing the items in, to check that we can accept them. Our centre is open to accept delivery of donations Monday – Friday, from 2pm-4pm (we regret that we will not be able to accept delivery of donations outside of these times). Thank you!
85% of our clients are male, so we will need more donations for men than for women.
Clothing
- Men’s Socks
- Men’s Underwear
- Women’s Socks
- Women’s Underwear
- Interview wear – shirts and suits
- Smart shoes, sizes 6-12
- Plain black T-shirts / plain black shirts / plain black trousers
- Comfortable casual shoes, sizes 6-12, preferably black
- Gloves, hats and scarves
- Leather belts
Toiletries
- Travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, body wash and deodorant
Getting into work
- Sets of chef knives
- Earplugs
- Construction boots, sizes 6-12
- Kitchen shoes, sizes 6-12
- Blue jeans – men’s, M – XL
- Tradesman work trousers
Make a house a home
We need items for those who are moving into accommodation. These will be received by clients accessing hostel accommodation and other forms of supported housing; or by those who are recovering from homelessness and entering employment and the private rented sector. Our clients will be starting with nothing, so anything to help people to settle in and make their new place into a home will be so much appreciated!
You can choose to donate an individual item, or to put together a pack:
- “Tea Set Pack” – kettle, mug, teaspoon, teabags, sugar
- “Moving In Pack” – a set of cutlery, a set of pots and pans, baking tray, oven-proof dish, colander, Tupperware, chopping board, chopping knife, wooden spoon, scissors, plate, bowl, mug, tea towels
- “Home Comforts Pack” – a radio, a towel, a laundry bag, a clothes horse
- “Clean and Tidy Pack” – basic cleaning items, like sponges, cloths, washing up liquid, detergent
Please ensure that all donated items are new, or if second-hand are in like-new condition and clean. We are not able to accept any used donations unfortunately, but there are many charities that have shops and are able to accept a much wider range of items – you could donate to:
Crisis
Shelter
St Mungo’s
Salvation Army
Christmas gifts
We think it is really important that we are listening to our clients.
This year, we asked about their experience of receiving Christmas gifts. Their feedback has transformed the way that we will be asking for gifts this Christmas!
This year, please donate retail vouchers. Our staff can then use these to purchase gifts with guidance from our clients, so that everyone can receive what they really want and need.
The best vouchers to donate are Primark / Boots / Tesco / Argos.
If you would like to donate the gifts which our clients really want and need, please email fundraising@cstm.org.uk to be sent a list of specific items which you can order online to be delivered to the centre in time for Christmas. Thank you for supporting homeless people.