Guide to Packing & Preparing your Donations
Packing guide
How to pack & prepare your donations
Once you’ve booked your collection date, the next step is to pack your donations securely into a bag or box, ready for our driver. For safety reasons we can’t accept loose items, as they can be damaged – or damage other donations – in transit. Here’s our quick guide to getting everything ready.
- Any bag or box
- No loose items
- Label it for our driver
In this guide
What This Packing Guide Covers
Step 1
Choosing the Right Bags or Boxes
You can pack your donations in any type of bag or box – we’re flexible! The most important thing is that your items are contained and easy for our drivers to carry.
Bin bags
Sturdy bin bags are perfect for clothes and soft items.
Cardboard boxes
Best for heavy or fragile items like crockery.
Bags for life
Clean shopping bags and bags for life work well.
Tubs & crates
Plastic tubs and crates work too – just make sure they’re easy to carry.
Top tip: use boxes for heavier or fragile items like crockery, kitchenware or small electricals, as they offer more protection. Softer items such as clothing, bedding or soft toys are best in bags, which are easier to load. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s secure and won’t split.
Step 2
Knowing What Size Is Right
Back at our warehouse, we sort your donations and pack them into boxes ready to be distributed. Everything we receive must fit into these boxes so it can be re-homed:
- Length: 60cm
- Width: 40cm
- Height: 30cm
Anything larger than this can’t be re-homed, unfortunately – which is why we’re unable to collect large, bulky items.
Step 3
How to Pack Fragile or Sharp Items Safely
Wrap fragile items up nice and snug so they don’t break (or break anything else!) during collection. Crockery, glassware and delicate electricals travel best in sturdy boxes with bubble wrap or old newspaper.
Do: pack breakables in boxes
Wrap each item in newspaper or bubble wrap and fill any gaps so nothing moves.
Don’t: put breakables in bags
Bags don’t protect fragile items – they can break and damage other donations.
Sharp items: for anything sharp – kitchen knives, hand saws or tools – please cover the sharp ends with something protective. It keeps our drivers safe and stops your other donations getting damaged in the van.
Step 4
Sorting and Labelling Your Donations Clearly
If you’re leaving donations outside, pop a label on them so it’s clear they’re for us – just a piece of paper saying “Anglo Doorstep Collections” stuck to your bags or boxes does the job perfectly. To make sorting a breeze, it really helps if you pack your donations into these three groups:
Label it
“Anglo Doorstep Collections” on each bag or box.
Clothes, shoes & textiles
Clothes, shoes, bedding and towels together.
Books
Books boxed up on their own.
Bric-a-brac
Everything else – kitchenware, toys, electricals and more.
It’s not a strict requirement, but it makes things run a lot smoother for our team when we’re loading up and sending your donations on their way!
Step 5
Guidance for Large Collections
Got a lot of donations? Please give us a heads-up so we can make sure there’s enough space in the van to collect everything in one go.
10
boxes of books maximum per collection
20+
bags or boxes? Let us know in advance
4pm
the day before – send us your photo by then
Just send a quick photo and roughly how many bags or boxes there are – reply to your booking confirmation email or email info@anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk. We’ll confirm we’ve received it and make sure the driver knows what to expect.
Please note: this doesn’t include large bulky items, or items not packed in a bag or box.
Step 6
Where to Place Your Donations for Collection
We’re flexible about where you leave your donations. Hand them to our driver in person, or leave them out while you’re busy – it’s up to you!
Hand them to us
Our driver will knock and collect directly from you.
Leave them in a safe space
A shed, garage or porch – just tell us where in your booking.
Leave them outside
Somewhere visible by your front door before your time slot.
Leaving donations in a safe spot? Just add a note to your booking telling us exactly where they’ll be and how to access them, so our driver can find them easily.
All packed and ready?
Book your free doorstep collection, choose the charity you’d like to support and we’ll do the rest.