Charities in the UK That Send Clothes Overseas: How to Donate
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Send your clothes where they’re actually worn
Wigmore Trading ships school uniforms and children’s clothing directly to Nigeria and Ghana — and we cover the freight and customs ourselves. Post it to our UK address and it reaches a child. We’ve also listed seven UK charities below if general clothing is what you have.
Donate school uniforms & children’s clothing
We ship into West Africa every week, so donations go straight to the children who need them — and we pay the freight and customs.
Wigmore Trading — Nigeria & Ghana
In most Nigerian schools uniform is compulsory, and a child without one can be turned away at the gate. The uniform your child outgrew is, somewhere else, the thing standing between a child and their classroom.
Because moving goods into West Africa is our day job, donations travel through freight, warehousing and customs clearance that already run every week — which is why this costs you nothing beyond posting the parcel. Most donation drives stall at a port; that’s the part we can solve.
47A High Street
Arlesey
SG15 6SW
Two different things happen to donated clothes
People often assume the jumper they hand over is the jumper someone abroad receives. Usually it isn’t — and that’s not a bad thing.
Sold to fund the work
Most UK charity shops resell donated clothing, and the money funds the charity’s programmes — which may well be overseas. Your coat becomes cash, and cash buys exactly what’s needed where it’s needed.
- More efficient — no shipping cost eating the value
- More useful — buys the right things locally, supporting local traders
- Best donations: good-quality, saleable items with resale value
- Gift Aid adds 25% if you’re a UK taxpayer
Shipped and given directly
Some organisations physically send goods to people who need them — refugee support groups, disaster response, and specific programmes where the item itself is the point.
- Direct — the item you gave is the item received
- Needs logistics — shipping and customs are the hard part
- Best donations: specific requested items, in the sizes and types asked for
- Always check what’s needed before sending anything
Other UK charities to consider
Each badged by what primarily happens to donated clothing. Check current guidance on their own sites before donating — charity operations change.
Oxfam
Mainly resold
One of the UK’s best-known charities, with shops nationwide. Donated clothing is sold to fund Oxfam’s international work across emergency relief, water, health and education, and unsaleable textiles are handled through their own reuse and recycling operation rather than sent to landfill.
British Red Cross
Mainly resold
Accepts clothing donations through its charity shops, with proceeds funding humanitarian work in the UK and internationally — emergency response, refugee support and crisis recovery.
Salvation Army
Mainly resold
Runs one of the largest clothing collection networks in the UK through donation banks and charity shops. Proceeds support their social programmes, including homelessness services domestically and relief work internationally.
TRAID
Mainly resold
Focused specifically on textile waste. Collects unwanted clothes, resells them through their own shops, and uses the funds for international projects improving conditions in garment-producing countries — a direct link between the clothes you give and the people who make them.
Care4Calais
Given directly
A volunteer-led charity supporting refugees in northern France, Belgium and the UK. Donated clothing goes directly to people living in very difficult conditions, so specific items and sizes matter — they publish what they currently need, and it changes with the season.
Shoe Aid
Given directly
Concentrates on footwear — an item that’s genuinely hard to substitute and often overlooked in clothing drives. Collects shoes for redistribution to people in need in the UK and abroad, and diverts them from landfill.
Clothes Aid
Mainly resold
Collects on behalf of partner charities, typically through door-to-door donation bags, generating funds for the charities it works with. Convenient, though worth checking which charity a particular collection supports.
Don’t skip Gift Aid
The same donation, worth a quarter more
If you’re a UK taxpayer, you can sign up for Gift Aid when donating goods to a charity shop. When your items sell, the charity claims an extra 25p from HMRC for every £1 they raise — at no cost to you whatsoever.
It takes a couple of minutes to register the first time, you get a donor number, and it applies to everything you give that charity afterwards. Many people donate for years without ever ticking the box.
The catch: you need to have paid at least as much UK income or capital gains tax in the year as the charities will reclaim on your donations. For most donors that’s easily met.
What actually helps
A smaller bag of good things beats a bin liner of everything.
Yes please
Clean, dry and wearable is the standard.
- Clothes in good condition, washed and folded
- Paired shoes, tied together
- Coats and jackets — always in demand
- Children’s clothing, which turns over fast
- Bags, belts and accessories
- Bedding and towels — call ahead, as policies differ
- Branded and quality items, which raise the most when sold
Think twice
These cost charities money to sort and dispose of.
- Anything wet, mouldy or heavily stained
- Torn or badly damaged clothing
- Single shoes, or pairs that aren’t tied
- Underwear — most shops can’t resell it
- Heavy winter coats to hot-climate programmes
- Unwashed items — the commonest reason donations get binned
Common questions
Do my donated clothes actually get sent overseas?
Which charity should I choose?
Do clothes need to be washed before donating?
What happens to clothes that can’t be sold?
Is Gift Aid worth it on donated goods?
Can I donate clothes to Wigmore Trading?
This page is general information for donors. Organisations are listed to help you find them and their inclusion is not an endorsement, nor is any omission a criticism. Descriptions of how each organisation handles donations are general summaries — charity operations, collection methods and accepted items change, so check each organisation’s own current guidance before donating. Gift Aid rules are set by HMRC and eligibility depends on your own tax position; check the current rules if you are unsure. Wigmore Trading Limited is a trading and logistics company, not a registered charity, and does not collect monetary donations; our uniform and stationery programmes are our own and we have an interest in promoting them. All organisation names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
One parcel. One child back in class.
Post school uniforms and children’s clothing to Shalom Ministries International, 47A High Street, Arlesey, SG15 6SW — marked “School Children in Africa Donation”.
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