Charities receive £11m worth of goods from In Kind Direct
Posted 20th January 2009 14:38pm by Robin Boles
In Kind Direct, one of The Prince’s Charities, has broken all previous records redistributing over £11m worth of goods to UK charities in 2008. This is an increase of £2.5m on the value redistributed in 2007.
This growth has been partly due to the expansion of their network of charity partners by 1,900 additional organisations since the beginning of the year.
Robin Boles, Chief Executive, In Kind Direct said: “The increase in both the value of goods In Kind Direct has redistributed and the number of organisations in our network clearly indicates two factors. Firstly, all types of charities are finding it increasingly important to utilise every way of stretching their resources in these difficult times. Using In Kind Direct is a natural and significant way of doing this. Secondly, the In Kind Direct model of having a single point of contact to which companies donate goods for charity use can leverage a substantial amount of product which would otherwise not reach small organisations and the millions of people in need they serve.
“I would like to thank the manufacturers and retailers who donate their surplus products to In Kind Direct and made reaching the £11m milestone possible. It is their generosity that enables In Kind Direct to reach out to charities and their beneficiaries who would not otherwise benefit.
“In 2009 as the economic situation continues to be turbulent we would welcome being able to help more charities and urge them to go to our website and join.”
In Kind Direct was founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1996 to distribute companies’ surplus goods to charities, helping to avoid unnecessary waste. It is the only organisation coordinating in-kind giving on a UK-wide scale. Since the charity started, £77 million of goods have been donated by over 750 companies, including many household names. More than 5,825 charities have benefited and over 1 million people are helped every year.
