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A month ago, a local mum and friend of mine (we’re both members of the local XR group) had this genius idea of setting up a group on Facebook to swap unwanted items locally. After every item people can donate to a charity. She posted this to our local XR Mums WhatsApp group and I said I would help with the admin stuff.
So off we set. The chosen charity had to be one that combats climate change, so it is the World Land Trust.
About the World Land Trust
World Land Trust is an international conservation charity that protects the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats acre by acre. It funds the creation of reserves and provides permanent protection for habitats and wildlife. Partnerships are developed with established and highly respected local organisations who engage support and commitment among the local community. Supported by patrons Sir David Attenborough, Steve Backshall, Chris Packham and David Gower.
Their mission
- To protect and sustainably manage natural ecosystems of the world. To conserve their biodiversity, with emphasis on threatened habitats and endangered species
- To develop partnerships with local individuals, communities and organisations. To engage support and commitment among the people who live in project areas
- To raise awareness, in the UK and elsewhere, of the need for conservation. To improve understanding and generate support through education, information and fundraising
Setting up the virtual charity shop
For this, a Facebook group was created where we simply upload the photos, description and suggested donation. Then people send the moeny to a JustGiving account created for this: Virtual Charity Shop of Surbiton. They then pick up items from front doors (so it’s contact free in lockdown). Once the item is sold, we delete the post in order to keep the page clutter free. Just like our life!
So this was an idea for people to get rid of all the decluttered stuff during lockdown (we all did decluttering, didn’t we?) because charity shops were closed. Items didn’t go to bin and landfill but we kept them circulating.
But here comes the biggest thing: to date we managed to raise enough money to purchase 1 whole acre of endangered habitat (a piece of tropical rainforest) and protect that land permanently. A single acre is about the same size as a soccer field, or 75% of a football field, or 16 tennis courts.
We are over the moon to reach this milestone. Currently we are on 15% of our target of £900. So hopefully it will happen before the end of the year. Because even if the lockdown is lifted and charity shops are open, we’re here to stay and are raising money for the World Land Trust.