Wilko and In Kind Direct announce strategic partnership

Value home and garden retailer Wilko chooses goods re-distribution specialist In Kind Direct as one of its preferred UK-wide charities and pledges to give further surplus products and funds.

UK high-street value home and garden retailer Wilko has been working for 9 years with In Kind Direct, one of the Prince’s Charities, to redistribute its unused surplus products to hundreds of grassroots charities across the country.

Since the start of the partnership Wilko’s surplus product donations have benefited over 775 charities working for causes as diverse as childcare, disability, family welfare, housing and homelessness, from London to Yorkshire and Scotland.

One of the most recent beneficiaries, Liz from Richmond Cafe Project, Edinburgh, says: "It was great to have kettles from Wilko. We work in a deprived area of Edinburgh and run a café, a food co-operative and various other activities for the community. The kettles came at exactly the right time when a number of homeless people and asylum seekers were referred to us by the local social work care team. Through our conversations we found that we could help them with a kettle for their new accommodation. When you have very little, a kettle enables you to make pot noodles, soup and hot drinks such as tea, coffee and hot chocolate."

Taking the partnership to the next level

As a new law requiring large retailers to charge customers single-use carrier bags comes into effect in England on 5 October 2015, Wilko has chosen to pass on proceeds generated by the new charge to charitable organisations including In Kind Direct.

As one of Wilko’s strategic UK-wide charity partners, In Kind Direct will be receiving 20 percent of the total proceeds generated from the carrier bag charge while In Kind Direct continues supporting Wilko in reaching its target of zero waste to landfill. Wilko’s other strategic partners are the Woodland Trust, WRAP and the Prince’s Trust.

Robin Boles LVO, CEO of In Kind Direct, says: “Wilko has become a key retail partner providing our network of charities with much needed household products and making a difference to the lives of thousands of people across the country. The additional financial support we will be receiving from Wilko will enable us to reach more families struggling to afford everyday essentials.”

Dr Melanie Fuller, acting Head of Quality and CR at Wilko adds: “We are delighted to work with In Kind Direct to enhance the value of our unused inventory and put it to good use. Charities across the country carry out amazing work and we’re proud to be supporting them with our products.”

Learn more about In Kind Direct here: www.inkinddirect.org 

Source : In Kind Direct Press release
https://www.inkinddirect.org/news/wilko_in_kind_direct_partnership