Hospice needs your old clothes

There's been a big drop in the number of clothing donations being made to Willen Hospice.

The charity says there's so few coming in that there's nothing in its warehouse for volunteers to sort.

The Hospice relies on donations of clothes to recycle and sell in its charity shops to help finance patient care, for more than 400 terminally ill adults every year.

Only a quarter of the charity's funding comes from the government, and the rest is made up by fundraising in the local community.

Christine Dines, the Hospice Warehouse Manager said:

"We are extremely low on clothing donations; you can count the number of bags waiting to be sorted - no more than a few at anytime. Our committed volunteers are having to go home as there is nothing for them to sort, price and get ready to sell. If you are having a spring clearout please think of us for your unwanted clothes."

Melanie Harriss, the marketing manager at the Hospice, told Heart why she thinks donations have dropped off:

"We think it might be the time of year maybe, and also there have been a lot of deliveries of bags for other charities going round to Milton Keynes, so maybe people are using those to put their clothes in."

Donations can be dropped off at the warehouse in Kiln Farm or at any of the Hospice Shops in Stony Stratford, Leighton Buzzard, Towcester, Olney, Bletchley, Buckingham and Newport Pagnell, or at the Hospice in Willen Village.