British Heart Foundation Supports Textiles Action Week

The UK’s leading charity retailer appeals to retailers and textiles brands to make sustainable choices, as WRAP launches Textiles Action Week.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is appealing to retailers and brands with end of line or surplus stock to donate items to help raise funds for life saving research.

The appeal comes as WRAP (The Waste and Resources Action Programme) launches Textiles Action Week (18-22 October 2021), as part of its Textiles 2030 initiative. Launched in November 2020, the voluntary agreement aims to bring together UK fashion and textiles organisations to accelerate progress towards a circular economy and climate action within the textiles industry.  

A founding signatory of Textiles 2030, the BHF hopes to encourage other textiles brands to consider signing the agreement and to collaborate with them. The charity is keen to help fashion businesses adopt better practices when it comes to keeping their product in circulation for longer.

The BHF already works with several high-profile retailers, such as Marks & Spencer and runs a successful brand partnerships programme. This means the charity’s partners donate stock that can be sold in the BHF’s 712 shops across the UK. 

This year, brand partners are set to help raise £8.6 million for the charity’s important work and contribute to saving 71,000 tonnes of items from going to waste.

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This Textiles Action Week we want to encourage others to join the Textiles 2030 initiative, so together we can build a more sustainable and circular UK textiles sector. Although strong strides have been made towards improving practices within the textiles industry, there’s more to do.  

“Our 520 clothing and accessory shops across the UK and online outlets – eBay and Depop – play an essential role in the reuse cycle. We rely heavily on brand partners donating surplus stock as it provides much-needed items for our network of shops. This year, by selling over 7 million pieces of preloved women’s and men’s clothing we will save almost 14,000 tonnes of clothing from going to waste, while raising millions of pounds for life saving research. 

“We want to continue to collaborate with other fashion and textile brands who can support the British Heart Foundation’s vital work by simply donating their unwanted stock. Doing so will help reduce waste, raise vital funds for research and take us a step closer to creating a truly circular economy.”

Dr David Moon, Director of Collaboration and Change at WRAP said: “The learnings and success of the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan have provided the foundations for Textiles 2030. SCAP was the first voluntary agreement of its kind to measure and act within the UK textiles sector and the knowledge we have gained from this agreement has underpinned what needs to happen to make Textiles 2030 even more impactful. Sector-wide change is essential if we are to achieve climate targets and a circular economy in materials, so we have been collaborating with businesses, Governments and other stakeholders to develop Textiles 2030. The public, investment managers and policy makers are all demanding practical action, sustainable products and evidence of outcomes.  We need more companies to show their commitment to action through Textiles 2030, continuing and evolving the legacy of SCAP.”

The BHF has a network of vans who can collect any large amounts of stock directly from retailers nationwide, making it easy to donate and raise vital funds to support the 7.6 million people in the UK living with heart and circulatory diseases.

To find out more about donating excess stock to the BHF please visit bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-goods or email stockdonation@bhf.org.uk. For details on how to sign up to Textiles 2030 please visit wrap.org.uk/taking-action/textiles/initiatives/textiles-2030