| By :
Alison Withers
Copyright (c) 2010 Alison Withers Most volunteers who help out with charities of all kinds are private citizens offering their services for free and in their own time. Often charity activities involve the collection of unwanted goods that are then redirected to those who need them, either in the home country or to the developing world. Donated items are usually clothes, furniture, household appliances, kitchen ware, books and so on, basically anything that can be cleaned, is in good enough condition to be re-usable and is neither dangerous nor unhygienic. All these items are bulky, however, and need to be stored. It is an issue not only for individual volunteers, who may end up having to collect and keep goods at home until a sufficient quantity has been collected to fill a container, for example, if the eventual destination is overseas. Equally even donations to charity shops or furniture recycling projects can outstrip the organisation's storage capacity. Storage space is not only needed for these kinds of voluntary organisations. It can also be an issue for amateur drama and operatic groups, which over time collect an impressive number of lovingly-made costumes and props, many of them also created by volunteers and needing to be stored. Charities and voluntary organisations often have minimal spare funds and organisers understandably do not want to "waste" hard-earned cash on more than minimal administration and of course on storage. The self-store industry has an impressive track record in supporting charities both by staff fund raising initiatives and also, by donating spare storage space either at a reduced rate or entirely free. Of course, it is good for their image, demonstrating corporate social responsibility and support for the local community, but it is a valuable contribution that has been a lifeline for many organisations. There are many examples of such local initiatives in the UK. In East Anglia, a charity that collects hospital furniture and other equipment to be shipped to developing countries, had outgrown its existing storage and a local self-store facility came to the rescue by allowing the charity to store its overspill awaiting shipment at a discount and agreed to be flexible in allowing it to pay for only the area it had used at any time. In another town a local drama group had collected a huge collection of costumes over more than ten years and was suddenly told its storage space was no longer available. Again a local self-store facility came to the rescue, offering a unit for free, so the drama group was able to save its costume and prop collection. Some self-store organisations offer one free space for charity in every store. Many offer short term storage in response to disaster emergency appeals, like the Haiti earthquake, or for charities collecting goods for a specific fund-raising event, like an auction or sale. One company in the North of England has donated space to a charity that works hard to collect donated items so that less fortunate children in the area receive gifts at Christmas. Another is acting as a collection and storage point for school equipment which is to be shipped to Africa If storage space is a problem it is worth contacting the local self-storage unit in your town and asking whether they are willing to help.
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