‘Tis the season when Vinnies Canberra is expanding their hours to give locals a chance to get on Santa’s nice list by donating quality, preloved items.  

On Tuesday 27 December, Vinnies Tuggeranong, Belconnen, Gungahlin, and Dickson will all be open for standard business hours.

Lindsay Rae, Director of Commercial Operations at Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn, says that this is to offset donation dumping while the stores are closed for the Christmas public holidays.

Despite very few Vinnies seeing a dumping problem any other time of year, it can accumulate after Christmas due to the huge volume of donations, according to Mr Rae.

“Where possible, we would appreciate it if people can hang onto their donations until mid-week or the following week, when things are a little slower,” he says.

“Though some people may be well meaning, by leaving their donations outside our shops they are unusable by morning and end up at the tip.”

He says that when bags of donations are left out over the usual shut-down period, they inevitably get picked through, with the unwanted goods left on the pavement.

“It is such a waste. We then have to get volunteers to come in early before we open to clean up the mess. Then we have to pay for it to go to the tip.”

Last November, Vinnies Canberra’s waste bill was more than $30,000, up 2.5 times since November 2019, prior to the pandemic. Mr Rae confirmed that this was mostly attributed to textile waste.

Ever since the ACT government reduced numbers of clothing charity bins in 2020, the volume of donations seen instore has increased tremendously.

However, Mr Rae explains he was happy to see the bins go, as they encouraged “offloading” of items that are well beyond the point of reuse, hence why Vinnies got rid of their own bins 15 years ago.

“Removing the other donation bins during COVID-19 has, however, put a lot more pressure on our staff.”

More unusable items are also now being donated instore. “As a general rule of thumb, if you won’t give it to a mate, then please don’t donate it to an op shop.”

If in doubt, ask a volunteer instore or check out vinnies.org.au/page/Donate/Donate_Goods/

“Donations are valuable to us, they are the main source of funding that we use to pay for the essentials we supply to those most in need in our community,” says Mr Rae.

If you would like to give back to the less fortunate this Christmas, the best thing you can donate is your time, he says.

“Especially between Christmas and New Year or throughout January, when our volunteer numbers are particularly low and donations are so high.

“We have had a number of people who come in to volunteer as a family as their ‘Christmas activity,’ which has been so nice.

“Secondly, please donate responsibly. We can’t take electronics, second-hand mattresses, and a number of baby accessories for health and safety reasons.

“And finally, if you have funds, please donate to the Vinnies Christmas Appeal.”

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