BIG ideas, bags of innovation!
How we could make a
difference
The recession brought an unexpected ‘catch
22’ problem for the BHF. More shoppers were looking for
bargains on the high street, but donors feeling the pinch were
hanging on to their old possessions.
Keeping BHF Shops the location of
choice for easy donating needed inventiveness, and a big idea.
How we did it
And BIG is
exactly what it was. The UK’s biggest-ever stock appeal, the BIG Donation, was launched by comedian Alan
Carr in September 2009, encouraging the public to help save lives
simply by clearing out their wardrobes.
Lidl, Argos and Homebase provided drop-off points for donations
in over 1500 shops.
Other big-name brands, including WHSmith, Radley and Furniture
Village, Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland participated. We
also placed BHF Donation Bins in 1372 offices for people to drop
off donations at work.
Another first was the online booking service to donate furniture
and electrical items: we come when you want, we collect what you
don’t want, and the whole service is completely free. 2009 was our
busiest year yet for innovation and progress.
How we’ll
progress
Our progress relies on you. And we’re
working hard to make donating to our shops even easier. From
opening more shops, improving our online booking form, placing more
donation banks in the community and organising household
collections, donating to your local BHF Shop is simple – and helps
save lives.
How we generated vital sales
The BIG
Donation was a BIG success with loads of BIG celebrities taking
part including Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross and Dannii
Minogue.
- 357,000+ bags were donated directly to our shops,
raising £1.1 million.
- 50,000 bags came from Drop Points at our corporate
partners.
- 2000+ online bookings for furniture and electrical collections
were made.
- 700+ articles appeared in newspapers, magazines and
online.
- 500+ BIG Donation events were held in the community.
- Over £2,500 was raised from two celebrity and designer eBay auctions.
