LEADING housing and homelessness charity, Shelter Scotland, is rewarding its shop customers and supporters by offering money-back in return for donations.
The move comes as the charity launches its free loyalty card today (Friday 28th June) offering new and existing customers the chance to earn money back to spend in-store when they donate items to a Shelter Scotland shop.
From today, the Give and Take Home loyalty card is available from each of the charity’s 43 Scotland-wide shops.
Customers and supporters will receive a loyalty stamp every time they donate to a Shelter Scotland shop. When they collect five donation stamps they will be rewarded with £5 to spend in-store on an item of their choice [1].
The initiative means supporters do not have to spend any money in order to receive the rewards.
Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said:
“We’re excited to launch our new loyalty card and look forward to giving something back to our customers and supporters.
“Give and Take Home differs from other loyalty cards because supporters don’t have to spend a penny to claim the rewards. All they need to do is pick up a card, rummage through their wardrobes, cupboards and attics in search of unwanted items, donate them to a Shelter Scotland shop and collect their loyalty stamps.
“Many existing customers have already told us they’re looking forward to the rewards scheme, and some even plan to donate their free £5 back to us. We certainly don’t expect every customer to do that and really encourage them to claim their well-deserved reward from one of our shops.”
According to Shelter Scotland, just £10 worth of donated items could enable one of their housing and homelessness advisors to help a family or individual through their free national helpline. A donation worth £45 can help train a Shelter Scotland support worker to deal with vulnerable adults, and protect children at risk.
Every penny from donations made to Shelter Scotland shops will go toward helping homeless and badly housed people in Scotland.
The loyalty card is also being rolled out in shops across England and Wales. The charity hopes the guarantee of a reward for loyal donors will encourage even more people to identify and donate unwanted items for a good cause.
Last year, in a bid to raise more money to fund its work, Shelter Scotland introduced Gift Aid cards to make it easier for supporters donating to the shops to add Gift Aid to all of their donated items. The cards, which are scanned in the shops every time a donation is made, enable the charity to reclaim 25p from the Taxman for every £1 raised though donations.
Shelter Scotland hopes that together with the introduction of the Gift Aid card, ‘Give and Take Home’ will enable them to raise more money from public donations to help even more families and individuals across Scotland.
Graeme Brown added:
“Each year, we help half a million people in Scotland living in bad housing or facing the tragedy of homelessness. We would not be able to do the work we do without our loyal supporters, especially at a time when funding to our national and local services in being cut. I encourage everyone to pick up a Give and Take Home card and donate anything they can to help us in our fight to end Scotland’s housing crisis for good.”
Shelter Scotland says that regardless of the condition of donated items, they can, in most cases, raise valuable funds. The charity wants to remind supporters that they accept all donations – no matter how big or small and say they can raise money from items which many people would throw in the bin because they believe they’re worthless or they’re embarrassed to donate to a charity.
Ends/
Notes to Editors:
1. Collect a stamp each time you donate a full Shelter bag. Every five stamps earns you £5 off your next purchase (£10 minimum spend). Excludes news goods range. You can claim one reward per day.
2. Shelter Scotland helps over half a million people a year struggling with bad housing or homelessness – and we campaign to prevent it in the first place. We’re here so no-one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own. For advice and support visit www.shelterscotland.org or call 0808 800 4444.
3. Spokespeople are available for interview – call the media office on 0844 515 2442. An ISDN line is available for broadcast interviews.
4. Follow Shelter Scotland on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/shelterscotland Twitter – http://twitter.com/shelterscotland
Shelter Scotland believes everyone should have a home. We help people find and keep a home. We campaign for decent housing for all.
MEDIA RELEASE posted by Shelter Scotland. You too can post your media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Shelter Scotland
Email: mediascotland@shelter.org.uk
Website: http://www.shelterscotland.org
