In General

Charity Collections for the Modern Age

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

 

icollectclothes, charity collections, shocked boy, surpriseDo you have a hallway table or similar littered with charity bags that have come through the door uninvited? At the moment, we have no fewer than five. FIVE! And they need leaving out on different days. I’ve long-since wondered if there was a better charity collections alternative.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely understand the need for charity collections and applaud the work that charities do, from running charity shops to an assortment of fundraising events, to spreading awareness, aiding research, working to change laws and so much more besides. Given that I’m clearly a fan of charities and all that they do, some might ask why I’m complaining about receiving charity bags through the door?

Basically, I don’t think they offer the most effective way of helping charities gain the much-needed funds that they need. Over the course of a month, I might receive as many as 10 different charity bags through the door. All of these bags costs money to produce. The drivers who spend time driving up and down streets in the hope of finding full bags as well as returned bags as worth their weight in gold, but again cost time and money. These bags need to be delivered too.

There has to be a better way, and there is. ICollectClothes currently has six charities on their books. Anyone with something to donate can quickly and easily book a collection via the ICollectClothes website and have their items not only picked up but used to fund their chosen charity. When working with ICollectClothes charities receive £200 for every tonne of clothing collected, without any of the rising overheads. This also frees up time for charities to spend on other valuable work.

I love this idea. A few quick clicks and you’ve arranged for your clothing to be picked up and there has been no waste in terms of numerous unwanted charity bags through your door and no wasted driver time, petrol and so on as with ICollectClothes drivers only go out when they have a collection.

Personally, I think this is a great idea. I give to charity when I can however rarely have enough clothing to fill a bag more than two or three times a year. Being able to choose in advance where I’d like my clothing, therefore my contribution to go is something that pleases me too.  I also look forward to seeing other charities signing up for the ICollectClothing service. It’s a win/win as far as I can see. This is most definitely the more efficient and more modern way to donate.

In Business & Blogging, Family Time

The Unthinkable

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

There are many things in life that are certain. You will get older for example. The sun will rise, the sun will set and British weather will continue to bamboozle us all. There are other things that are likely or may be assumed, such as being in a serious relationship, getting a job, perhaps having children. Then there is The Unthinkable that’s not certain, it’s not highly likely but it’s possible. By The Unthinkable, I’m referring to something happening that might result in a personal injury claim.

I’m pretty good with the internet and the news and it seems that every single day there are reports of something bad happening to someone who quite frankly didn’t deserve it, such as an injury that wasn’t their fault. As a parent, something bad happening to the kids is beyond unthinkable, so unthinkable quite frankly, I’m just not going there. Something happening either Roy or I, that would be terrible.

We have this somewhat macabre saying, Roy and I. We say, “If I was run over by a bus tomorrow……”; it’s our reference point for if one of us had an accident/were injured and couldn’t work. We both work and as someone who works from home myself being injured would be catastrophic. Lost earnings, losing clients as I have no colleagues to pick up the slack, looking after the boys, doing the school run, taking them (and paying for) their out of school activities. With the unthinkable comes the necessity of having to think about the practical.

Now I stop to think about it, being injured would be plain blooming awful, both for me or Roy (obviously) but for the family short and long term. What would make such a circumstance even more difficult to get past would be someone else being at fault. When I think of the types of injuries that are not uncommon yet could so easily happen, I shudder a little.

Thankfully, cross your fingers, touch wood and all that I’d like to hope that we personally won’t be affected by injury thanks to the actions and poor choices of others, however, I’m not naive enough to presume it couldn’t happen. It could, it does and worryingly, those who find themselves hurt and out of pocket because of others believe that ultimately that they would need to “suck it up”, to try and get past it themselves, regardless of the hardship.

That isn’t the case however as there are people who can help. If your first thought on reading that last sentence was “ambulance chasers” I wouldn’t blame you. There are a great number of people who would happily cash in on your misery in order to make themselves money. There are however those who, while still running a business, and not pretending to do otherwise (which is refreshing) who are people who can help, who are trained to help and who do so in a way that is sensitive to your situation, and the situation of those around you.

Would I contact someone reputable to help me gain compensation if I was hurt due to negligence, due to carelessness which in injuring me would have a detrimental effect on my boys? Yes, I would. I would do anything to soften the blow and any lasting issues they would be party to, never mind dealing with my own issues and injuries. I’d also hope that in doing so that while primarily my motives would be for my family that I would also want to see things change. Sad but true, sometimes change occurs only after a legal case forces people to change. If change could help other families escape the same issues then yes, I would go for it!

What about you? If the unthinkable happened and someone was hurt through someone else’s actions, what would you do?

 

All original content on these pages is fingerprinted and certified by Digiprove