Donations
Donate time
We know that the most valuable thing you have to give is your time. Our shops and social enterprises are people-powered, run by an amazing team of volunteers who generously donate their time to Emmaus Suffolk. Volunteers help us to raise more money, to help more people in need, in the local community.
Find out more about volunteering with us >>>here<<<
Donate goods
Emmaus Suffolk is very grateful for all donations of pre-loved clothing, shoes, bric-a-brac, books, furniture, and electrical items (which we PAT test in-house). Furniture donations are by arrangement, and we also offer a full/part house clearances service. Please scroll down below for further information.
Donating unwanted goods to Emmaus Suffolk
One of the most important ways you can support our work to end homelessness and isolation is to donate unwanted, quality goods. We accept donations at our Dales Road site (which has its own car park) whenever the shop is open.
Donations accepted Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 216 Dales Road, IP1 4JY. Please bring donations into the shop in our opening times, 10am till 4pm.
For donations of large items, including furniture, please email, text or WhatsApp a photo (with measurements) to our Area Retail Manager, Gill Dibben on 07879 773944. We have limited storage space so large donations must be arranged in advance please.
We rely on your continued support and kind donations to keep our lovely shops fully stocked, and always do our very best to resell, reuse, or recycle everything we receive. We have a strong environmental ethos so you can be assured all donations will be handled with this in mind.
We often get asked if we can take specific items, and there are some goods we cannot take due to legal reasons (see full list below). But the easiest was to think about it is this…
Would you give this to a friend? Or be happy to receive it as a gift?
If the answer is ‘no’ then please look at alternative methods of disposal. Ipswich and Suffolk Recycling Centres are fantastic, they recycle a HUGE selection of items, and now offer ‘bookable’ spots to make it an even better experience.
Sadly the donation of rubbish, unusable, poor condition items happens more often than you’d think! In fact, it happens so much that it costs charities thousands of pounds every year. Charities do NOT get free tip runs. If we visit the local recycling centre, then we are charged like a normal business. Read more about it here on this Huffington Post article.
Donations accepted at:
Emmaus Suffolk
216 Dales Road
Ipswich
IP1 4JY
Please note, we have a free car park to the rear of the building, and a clothing bank, where fabrics and textiles can be donated 24/7. Please do not leave items outside the building when we are closed as they often get damaged and subsequently must be binned. Thank you. Your support is much appreciated.
Items we cannot accept
We cannot accept donations of any of the following items:
Guns, knives and weapons (replica or otherwise)
Flammables, gas cyclinders, paint and gas appliances
Flat-packed furniture (unless boxed)
Furniture without fire labels
Safety equipment, car seats, bike helmets etc
Used duvets and pillows
Headboards (that are not part of a complete bed)
Bulk office furniture (at manager’s discretion)
Large wall units (at manager’s discretion)
Loose plastic toys
Cuddly toys without CE labels
Electrical items more than 3 years old
No personal care electrical items (e.g. shavers, hair tongs, foot spas etc.)