Now summer is nearly over...

A lot to catch up on since the last post! We had the last of the Summer Music and the sun managed to shine just for us on that day! Also the highlight so far was the 'Marks and Spencer One Day Wardrobe Clear out' which was held at M&S stores, from Stowmarket we volunteered at Ipswich and Felixstowe. We had lots of donations and gave lots of vouchers out that day! Here is a photo I took as we filled the last of the boxes with the donations! Thank you to everyone who made the day a success and well worth the achy feet the next day!

To claim your £5 off voucher for M&S clothing, home and beauty products, it's easy as pie, donate any M&S item to an Oxfam charity shop, even the Book Shop in Ipswich, just flag up that there are some M&S items in the donation so that we know! Then all you have to do is go shopping and spend at least £35! If you have a voucher, never used and it's out of date, we would be happy to exchange it for a new one, pop into the Stowmarket shop and we can do that for you.

We are always in need of donations and this little incentive just makes a good deed seem even better!

Now it's the end of the Summer holidays, kid's going back to school and us Students disappearing off to Uni, college and possibly work! So new, enthusiastic volunteers, not just now but as always are a bonus really!

From 2 years at Oxford as a volunteer, for the second time I am gallivanting off to the Midlands for months on end, Stowmarket Oxfam is one of the friendliest and has a very enthusiastic team of dedicated volunteers. So, got nothing to do on your day off, at the weekend or feel like giving some time into the local community and helping a major worldwide charity?? Get down to the brand new shop, fill in a quick application form or be old fashioned and write a letter (that’s how I got into Oxfam)!

So look out for the new donations collected at Ipswich, will be in the shop soon! Can't wait for them to be delivered, in the meantime, we do have very full rails in womenswear, menswear and children’s clothing, as well as home wear, toys and games, accessories, jewellery and shoes!

Hope to see you soon browsing our shelfs and rails!

Stephanie

Over the Last few weeks here in our Stowmarket Oxfam the weather has been pretty miserable, today is it wet and dull outside, thankfully it was a truly hot and sunny day last Friday for the Summer music and some of our volunteers managed to take 10 minutes through the busy day to enjoy it outside! Lets hope it is as nice this week!!

Business as usual in the shop, Lots of Donations, but  more are always greatly appreciated. Also  I wanted to mention Gift Aid, This in basic terms means that for every £1 of your donated items that we sell in our shop, Oxfam get 25p extra on top. You have to be a UK Tax payer to be able to sign up for this, and it is as simple as filling in a form; name, address and sign the bottom!

So the next time you donate something all you have to do is, use the stickers provided to you which have your Gift Aid number on, Stick it on your donated items! And when you run out of stickers, we can search for your number using your name and postcode. It really is that simple! Visit http://www.oxfam.org.uk/tagyourbag for more info or pop into Stowmarket Oxfam to sign up for Gift Aid.

 

There are only 2 more Summer music afternoons, Friday the 26th August and 2nd September. Which will be an amazing way to end the summer holidays, if the rain holds off and the sun makes an appearance! If you haven't already, make the trip down, it kicks off at about 11am and ends 2pm ish! A chance to support local businesses, as well as enjoying the local musical talent and paying us a visit of course!

Also lastly I urge you all to check out the Oxfam UK website to keep updated on current news, Or on Facebook Or Twitter! Also @ Oxfam YouTube, to watch clips!!

Enjoy the summer, possibly just without the sunshine!

Stephanie

A quick introduction...

Hello and Welcome to the brand new Stowmarket Oxfam Blog page. Here we will discuss Oxfam as a charity and the work they do, also this space is about our Oxfam shop in Stowmarket, Suffolk, What we do in order to raise money, and keep the people of Stow looking as fashionable as ever! A quick overview on Oxfam to start, a little bit of light reading for you...

As we all know, there is a severe food and drought crisis in East Africa, the driest year in six decades, Places like northern Kenya’s Turkana region have been hit the hardest. As well as famine in Somalia, the biggest in ten years. People crowding in makeshift shelters, more than 3,500 people a day are travelling just to try and cross the boarder into Kenya and Ethiopia. Oxfam are working in Dobley, the Lower Juba region, where they have had rain fall, Filling the two boreholes which Oxfam are working round the clock to keep the water pumps running.

In Ethiopia Oxfam set up a 'cash-for-work' project,Helping people construct structures such as fences, dams and trenches to protect and help improve the farmland, Creating extra money for food, clothes and education.

Oxfam concentrates on three key points and interlinked areas of work; Emergency response, At this moment this involves The East African Food crisis. Development work, working with local people to improve their lives. And third, campaigning for change, that’s a real and lasting change.

Other than work worldwide, Heading back to the UK, Where it is home to all the Charity shops and Waste Saver. Waste saver is based in Huddersfield (unfortunately recently the warehouse was destroyed by fire), it raises money from textiles that cant be sold in the shops, so they don't go to a landfill. It gets sorted and sold at festivals, sold to designers who re-style and re-use garments also to commercial second hand clothing markets in the UK and overseas. The textiles that are not sold as clothing get sold in bulk to recycling reprocessing companies in the UK. It could end up filling your mattress, or as your car sound insulation! Our Charity shop is one that uses Waste Saver, So bare that in mind, Before sending it to a landfill, think, We can recycle that for you if you bring it in, and let us know.

Oxfam Stowmarket is located opposite Costa Coffee (very convenient) And next to ASDA in the town centre, donations can be delivered to the back door, just off Crowe Street, It is a new shop and we are very proud of it, none of that stereotypical smell going on. We are an enthusiastic and friendly bunch of people of all ages, literally. Not forgetting the fab manager Hannah who is always trying out new ways of promoting our shop and keeping the customers happy and volunteers happy also. With Summer music every Friday during the summer holidays, different bands play music in the afternoon, this is always a great opportunity if you are at a loose end.

A final Welcome to the Blog, From Stephanie (AKA. Passionate Volunteer)