If you are looking to donate your unwanted items, our Bedfordshire homelessness charity Emmaus Village Carlton is happy to accept most quality clothing and household goods to be sold in our three shops. We can also take any scrap metal, cardboard, damaged books and textiles (not used duvets/pillows) which we can sell on to be recycled and raise cash for our charity.
Read about how to drop off donated goods or arrange a free collection from the ground floor of your home or business. If you are a UK taxpayer, please ask us about Gift Aid. For donation enquiries, email: [email protected].
Please don’t donate things we can’t accept – it costs us money
Each year we end up spending around £47,000 to pay for the disposal of all the poor quality donated items, so we’d really appreciate your help to reduce this bill by taking a look at our criteria below before donating.
Items we can sell in our shops or recycle for cash
We can stock our charity shops with most clothing and many household items if they are in a re-sellable condition, including clean clothes, linens, furniture, books, CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, games, toys, household bric-a-brac, clothes, shoes and accessories.
Electrical items we do accept must be less than 5 years old and include: Lamps, small kitchen appliances, sewing machines, laptops, TVs with HDMI+VGI ports and remote control, tablets, music equipment, lamps, heaters and fans.
We can also take any scrap metal, cardboard, damaged books and textiles (not used duvets/pillows) which we sell on to be recycled – please ensure items for recycling are in a separate bag labelled ‘for recycling’.
We can’t accept:
- We no longer accept large electrical appliances – fridges, washing machines, freezers, ovens, microwaves, vacuum cleaners, speakers or electrical exercise equipment.
- Non-flat-screen TVs or TVs without a remote control, HDMI socket or VGA lead.
- DVD players with no remote control or HDMI socket.
- VHS video players.
- iPods, iPads and iPhones.
- Apple electrical products.
- Wii consoles and accessories.
- Docking stations.
- Computers and printers.
- Wall light fittings.
- Ceiling light fittings.
- Beauty or personal electrical items, including hair styling products such as curling tongs, straighteners, hair brushes or heated rollers.
- Hair clippers.
- Foot baths.
- Rechargeable electrical items, extension leads, cables or plugs.
- Any goods not in a re-sellable condition (this includes tears and stains), unless they are for recycling (see above).
- Items with an odour from a smoking household.
- Dining tables without chairs and chairs with no table.
- Baby care equipment; buggies, cots, prams, car seats, high chairs, play pens.
- Soft toys with no ‘CE’ visible on the label.
- Plastic toys due to the high cost of disposal. We are still welcoming children’s DVDs, books, puzzles and games.
- Upholstered furniture with no fire label attached.
- Used duvets and pillows.
- Video or audio tapes.
- Carpet.
- Flat packed furniture.
- Wall display units with cupboards at the bottom and glass doors at the top.