Spring-clean with TK Maxx and raise money for Cancer Research UK

Let’s all admit it; our closets are filled to bursting with clothes we don’t wear, will never wear and, in some cases, have never worn once which still have the tags attached! Then there are those rash sales purchases that you later reneged on and those passing “must-have” trend items that were a flash in the pan…

It’s time to let go folks, before friends and family begin contacting “Hoarders”! Rather than throwing away your unwanted clothing or dumping them at the end of the drive in one of those (often shady) charity collection bags you get through the mail box – I’m the first to admit that in the past this has often been the easy, real lazy option for me.

TK Maxx is again, this spring, in conjunction with Cancer Research, urging you to “Give up Clothes for Good”. The campaign which runs from ^1st April through to the 30^th April, is billed as the UK’s biggest ever clothing collection, all to raise millions of pounds to help the charity beat children’s cancer. Since its inception in 2004, a staggering £10 million has been raised!

Using one of the donation bags available in TK Maxx stores, or your own bags if you prefer, you can take part in this great initiative by bagging up all those unwanted garments and dropping them off at your local TK Maxx store. You can also donate jewellery, belts, bags, ties, shoes, DVDs, CDs, books and homewares such as linens and cushions. Once received, these will be resold at Cancer Research stores or recycled and the proceeds will go to funding medical research into children’s cancers. 

The aim this year is to raise over £2.5 million and the campaign has attracted celebrity support Charlotte Church and Spice Girl Mel C who will also be donating clothes. Also getting in on the act this year and backing “Give Up Clothes for Good” are  Hugh Bonneville and Brendan Coyle from Downton Abbey, singer Alexandra Burke, Lauren Goodger & Arg from TOWIE, the Made in Chelsea cast, fashion designer Petra Ecclestone and Olympic athlete Chemmy Alcott!

Each bag could help raise £30 for the charity and help them to reach this target; so get a jump start on your spring cleaning and don’t forget the added bonus of all the closet space you’ll free for your new summer wardrobe!

Donating clothes to charity in this manner is also good for the environment. A shocking one million tonnes of discarded clothing in the UK goes straight to landfill; TK Maxx estimates that since 2004 it has collected 1,700 tonnes of clothing that ordinarily would have ended up in the landfill. This figure should and could be much higher! Join the stellar cast of celebrities backing the campaign, myself and my fellow writers at The Upcoming and thousands of people up and down the UK, in bagging up all those unwanted and unused items that are cluttering up your closets and drop them at a TK Maxx store near you. You’ll be raising money to help beat kid’s cancer and doing your bit for the environment as a plus. It’s a win-win all round!

As a thank you for participating, all those who donate to the campaign can enter into a £1,000 prize draw.

To find out more about “Give Up Clothes For Good” and find your nearest TK Maxx store click here.  

Ian Michael Turner

Watch the Cancer Research UK campaign film here

Watch the TK Maxx Cancer Research campaign here