It's easy and free – all you need is some packaging to pack up your donations. Every item sold in our charity shops raises vital funds that fuel the fight for housing justice.
Send donations to Shelter shops for free
As part of HSBC UK's partnership with Shelter, they're proudly sponsoring the sort and send service. Send donations to Shelter shops for free by dropping off your preloved items at any Yodel drop-off point.
For any furniture donations, we have three Shelter furniture shops that offer a free collection service:
What you can donate
We'd love to accept your preloved goods in excellent condition. There are some items we can't accept, as we won't be able to sell them in our charity shops and it may cost us money to dispose of them.
The better or more desirable the item, the more money we can raise to campaign for long-term change and tackle the root causes of homelessness.
We're especially in need of:
premium quality branded clothes and shoes – new or preloved
any clothing and footwear in excellent resalable condition
items of handmade clothing, in excellent resalable condition
any genre of books
jewellery – either modern or vintage
accessories – including bags, sunglasses, belts and hats
vinyl and laserdisc in working condition
good quality ceramic tableware
We can't accept:
CDs or DVDs
used bedding, blankets, duvets, pillows or towels
underwear or pyjamas without new tags
swimwear without new tags and hygiene strip
opened cosmetics and toiletries
food and drink
knives of any sort
adult or explicit material
broken, dirty or damaged items
How to send your donations to Shelter
1. Find your nearest Yodel drop-off point
There are thousands of conveniently located drop-off points across the country. Most of them are in local convenience stores, so you won't need to go to a post office.
Find your nearest Yodel drop-off point2. Pack up your donations
Each parcel can weigh up to 10kg and measure up to 60cm by 50cm by 50cm. The drop-off points will reject your parcel if it's bigger than this, so please split your parcel into smaller ones if necessary and print off additional labels.
3. Generate a Freepost label
Complete this form to generate a Freepost label. You can either show the label barcode to a member of staff at the drop-off point or print the label at home.
If you have multiple parcels, you can download the number of labels you need. Each parcel needs a unique label. You can use your Freepost labels for up to 28 days after generating them.
Please add Gift Aid at this point if you're a UK taxpayer. There's no cost for you and we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 raised through sales of your donated items.
Get your Freepost label4. Take your package to a drop-off point
Hand over your package and show your label barcode. That’s it!
Once we receive your items, we'll sort and sell them on our online shop or in our high street stores.
Sort and Send is sponsored by HSBC UK
HSBC UK is sponsoring our sort and send service to facilitate this easy way to donate by post.
Poor financial health and homelessness can often go hand in hand. This is why HSBC UK and Shelter are working together to support people to build financial resilience and help break the vicious circle of homelessness. HSBC UK continue to support Shelter Retail and in the last year, HSBC UK employees have donated good quality preloved items to raise over £13,000.
Your clearout can help fight the housing emergency
Home is everything. It's our foundation and it's where we thrive. But our failed housing system means over 123,000 households are homeless in temporary accommodation – the highest number ever.
We can make the greatest long-term impact by reselling items in our charity shops to raise funds. The money raised will support our work to tackle the root causes of homelessness and fight for housing justice.
With your help, we'll campaign to reform private renting, demand more social homes and defend the rights of people facing homelessness or housing issues.
Got a question?
You can contact us by emailing shop_support_team@shelter.org.uk.