Somerset Council has made reuse and waste reduction a clear environmental priority for the communities it serves — and its confirmed partnership with Anglo Doorstep Collections puts that commitment into practice, street by street, household by household. Through this partnership, Somerset Council charity collections are available completely free of charge to residents across the council area, with items collected directly from the doorstep by our team. No drop-offs, no travel, no cost.
Reuse sits above recycling in the waste hierarchy, which means that every jacket, pair of shoes or set of towels that gets a second life rather than heading to disposal genuinely counts. Somerset Council recognises this, and the council’s work with Anglo Doorstep Collections is a direct expression of that commitment to waste prevention and circular economy progress.
For residents, the benefit is straightforward. Items that might otherwise end up in a bin bag or a skip — clothing, books, kitchenware, small electricals — can instead be collected from your front door, routed back into reuse markets, and put to good use elsewhere. Charitable causes benefit from that process too, with proceeds supporting community and charitable projects across the wider network.
Anglo Doorstep Collections currently works with more than 100 local authorities across the United Kingdom — including councils such as North Yorkshire Council, Manchester City Council and Exeter City Council — and Somerset Council is a valued part of that growing national network. The focus here, though, is entirely on you as a Somerset resident and what this service can do at your door.
Our Somerset collections cover a wide range of everyday reusable household items. A few concrete examples: a bag of outgrown children’s clothes, a box of paperbacks, a pair of boots you never quite wore in, or a stack of DVDs taking up shelf space. All of these fall within what we collect — and all of them can be left on your doorstep for us to pick up on your chosen collection day.
Below are the eight headline categories we accept across all our Somerset Council charity donations collections.
Tops, trousers, dresses, coats, jackets, hoodies, cardigans and more
Shoes, boots, trainers and sandals in reusable condition
Fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and educational titles
Children’s toys and games in good, reusable condition
Handbags, rucksacks, tote bags and holdalls
Belts, scarves, hats, jewellery and other wearable accessories
Music CDs, DVDs and video games in reusable condition
Bath towels, hand towels, bed sheets and pillowcases
As well as the items above, Somerset Council residents can also donate:
Beyond these eight categories, we also collect a broad range of additional household reusables — see the full list below the main categories on this page for everything that qualifies.
Booking is simple, and the whole process is designed around your convenience as a resident.
Every collection completed under the Somerset Council charity collections service adds up to something meaningful at scale. Anglo Doorstep Collections carries out more than 500,000 household collections each year nationally, rehoming in excess of 12,000 tonnes of reusable goods in the process. Over £460,000 has been raised for charitable causes across the network, and more than 62,000 trees have been planted through linked environmental initiatives.
For Somerset Council, this partnership also supports accurate environmental reporting. Anglo Doorstep Collections provides WasteDataFlow-ready reuse data, giving the council a clearer picture of reuse activity taking place within the local authority area. That information feeds directly into:
Within the waste hierarchy, reuse ranks above recycling — because extending the useful life of a product avoids the energy and resources involved in breaking it down and reprocessing it. Somerset Council’s support for doorstep donation collections in Somerset Council reflects this thinking. By making reuse easier and more accessible for residents, the council is actively working to:
The reasons are practical as much as principled. A free doorstep collection removes the friction that so often means reusable items simply get binned. There is no need to make a trip to a charity shop, no queuing, and no awkward large bags on public transport. Residents across Somerset Council’s area choose this service because:
Anglo Doorstep Collections operates one of the largest household reuse collection networks in the United Kingdom. Working in confirmed partnership with Somerset Council and more than 100 other local authorities, our service gives residents a straightforward, cost-free way to pass on unwanted household items for reuse. More than 500,000 household collections are completed every year, with upwards of 12,000 tonnes of reusable goods rehomed annually as a result. The service is free to residents, and it helps local authorities like Somerset Council increase reuse performance, engage their communities and capture the reuse data they need for accurate environmental reporting.
Somerset Council residents can book a free doorstep collection today. Pack up your unwanted clothing, footwear, books, linen, toys and more — and let us take care of the rest, completely free of charge.