This event has now finished but you can watch the webinar back here.
How working with charity shops can bolster welfare support and enhance social value
Online Webinar
Wednesday 17th September, 12pm – 1pm
This webinar addresses the growing challenge facing local authorities and housing associations in maximising the impact of their financial support programs while operating under increasingly constrained budgets. The session explores how partnerships with charity shops can create a win-win solution that extends funding reach while generating substantial social value.
Key Challenges
Local authorities and housing associations face mounting pressure to make limited welfare budgets stretch further while maintaining dignity and choice for service users. Traditional procurement processes for secondhand goods can be administratively burdensome and time-consuming, creating barriers to accessing the cost savings that charity retail offers.
The Charity Shop Solution
The webinar demonstrates how charity shops represent an underutilised resource that can significantly enhance welfare support programs. Charity shops collectively divert 339,000 tonnes of clothing from landfill annually, saving councils millions in waste disposal costs while creating employment opportunities and providing safe, supportive community spaces.
The Charity Shop Gift Card Innovation
Central to the presentation is The Charity Shop Gift Card scheme, which addresses the administrative challenges of working with charity retail. This solution enables support agencies to issue cards to service users, allowing them to shop with dignity across thousands of charity shops nationwide. The scheme ensures agencies only pay for what is actually spent, not what is loaded onto cards, maximising budgets.
Who Should Attend?
This webinar is specifically designed for decision-makers within local authorities and housing associations who manage welfare support programs and are seeking innovative approaches to maximise impact within budget constraints.
Our Speakers
Robin Osterley OBE Charity Retail Association
Anna Phillips
Foot Anstey
Lee Fellows
The Charity Shop Gift Card
Laura Montandon Worcester City Council
Robin runs the UK’s only trade organisation representing the interests of charity shops and their parent charities.
The CRA’s members operate around 9,000 shops that help divert 339,000 tonnes of textiles away from landfill or incineration, generating almost £400m of income for their parent charities every year.
Anna leads the firm’s charity property practice which advises charities, social enterprises, RPs and healthcare organisations in solving property related problems.
Anna is passionate about the not-for-profit sector and is driven by making a positive difference to the organisations she represents.
Lee is the Managing Director and co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card,a gift card that can only be spent in charity shops.
As well as a consumer gift, the scheme is used by a growing number of local authorities, housing associations and other support agencies to distribute financial support to residents.
Laura, is the Housing & Welfare Options Team Leader at Worcester City Council. Laura has worked within the homelessness sector for 8 years, supporting vulnerable clients through their housing journey.
Laura re-joined Worcester City Council in 2024, where she is responsible for the co-ordination of the Discretionary Welfare & Assistance Team.
This event has now finished but you can watch the webinar back here.