Textile group hits £100k milestone

GOOD CAUSE . . . Maureen Mullin uses one of the Francis House textile banks

A CLOTHES and textile recycling company has helped raise more than £100k for Francis House Children's Hospice.

Clothing donations to Bag It Up's recycling scheme are a "vital funding stream" for the hospice, which supports children and young adults with life-threatening conditions.

BIU Group, which manages Francis House's 30 textile recycling banks across the North West, is "delighted" to hit the fundraising milestone.

Recycled unwanted clothing, shoes and household items such as towels and bedding are collected at recycling banks and resold to generate income.

The company has worked alongside the registered charity since February 2010 to support their work.

Peter Forster, fundraising manager at Francis House, said: "We are extremely grateful to all our supporters across the North West for their generous clothing donations.

"We have been very happy with our partnership with BIU Group and the sustainable revenue it brings, helping us to continue providing care and support for people with life-limiting and life-shortening conditions."

The children's hospice receives 30 per cent of gross sales from the donated second-hand items.

Good quality textiles are sold to markets in the UK and overseas, while some items are recycled.

The same model has been used by BIU Group to support its other partner charities since 2005.

Wendy Yarney, charity partnership manager at BIU Group, said: "We are delighted to have hit the £100k-milestone mark with Francis House Children's Hospice, a fantastic charity who provide care for children and young adults with life-threatening conditions. Without donations from the public and the generosity from our site hosts this would have not been possible.

"We have worked with the charity for a number of years now and it's great to see this continued partnership thrive. Both BIU and Francis House have grown considerably since this collaboration started and we are looking forward to hitting the next milestone in the future."

For information on where to donate your unwanted clothing, visit biugroup.co.uk/banklocator.