It hasn’t always been as easy as it should be to donate much needed toiletires and beauty products to the people who need them the most but thanks to a new partnership between Boots and The Hygiene Bank, things are changing.
The Hygiene Bank is a charity that believes everyone should have a dignified life, and via this new partnership, Boots will be placing collection bins in 24 of its stores nationwide so customers can donate new, unused and in-date toiletries and personal care items.
While drop-off locations and delivery centres have been appearing up and down the UK for some time, ensuring products like deodorant, shower gel and tampons are accessible is about to become even easier thanks to Boots. The items that are donated in stores will be redistributed across the country via smaller, local charities which in turn will help thousands of people.
Talking about the partnership, founder of The Hygiene Bank, Lizzy Hall, said: “According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation one in five people in the UK are living in poverty, two thirds are working families who just can’t make ends meet, having to regularly choose between eating, paying rent, heating the home or buying the basics that many of us take for granted. The partnership with Boots will not only give us a platform to raise awareness about the hidden issue of hygiene poverty, but will allow communities across the UK to easily get involved by donating the daily essentials.”
Helen Normoyle, Boots’ marketing director, added: “Supporting hygiene poverty in local communities has been a mission for Boots since opening its doors over 170 years ago. Soap was one of the first non-medicinal products that our founder Jesse Boot sold, because he recognised that basic hygiene is the foundation of good health. Since then, Boots has continued to provide affordable healthcare and basic hygiene products, and through our partnership with The Hygiene Bank we will continue our mission to help even more people.”
Donations are invited from any brand or retailer with the only caveat being that everything has to be unopened and in date. The most requested items include unisex shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrushes, body wash, deodorant, nappies, baby wipes and baby toiletries, shaving foam and razors.
The 24 stores with collection bins are in Newcastle, Hanley, London Covent Garden, St Albans, Cardiff, Ashford, Plymoth, Chester, Belfast, Watford, Guildford, Stockport, Bluewater, Bristol, Doncaster, Brighton, Edinburgh, Sheffield Meadowhall, Liverpool Street Station, Truro, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester and Nottingham.
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