As Royal Mail postage costs went up recently and courier costs have started to rise, I pulled out all the stops and finished filling a box for Operation Orphan which is an organisation that distributes warm clothing to children in Central and Eastern Europe.
Here are the contents: 2 scarves, 12 hats and 2 waistcoats. Some of these items have been ready for months and now they can actually be useful and keep someone warm. it might seem odd thinking about warm clothing in the summer, but this is the time of year that charities start to prepare for distributing clothing in time for winter.
I have already started knitting a baby jumper for one of my favourite charities. But it will probably be another year before I have enough items ready to fill a box to capacity.
I wonder what postage costs are like in other countries. In the UK we definitely have to thing twice before posting something. In the last week, I have spent nearly £10 on postage. That is £10 that i can't spend on wool!
More and more people are looking for local charities that they can support by dropping in with their knitted/crocheted donations. That is good news for the local charities but not such good news for those that rely on receiving lots of parcels. I would choose the local option if I could. But, for now, my favourite charities can still rely on one box per year from me.
Postage has gone up so much recently, hasn't it? It's such a shame that now people will have to think twice before helping charities in other countries. You do such wonderful work and for such a great cause :) xoxo
ReplyDeleteLovely to see all your knitted donations. Yes, postage costs are a consideration, aren't they? I'm busy making hats for the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes at the moment. They are always glad of knitted hats, gloves, scarves and glove puppets to act as filler items when it comes to checking and packing the boxes in November. I also knit for the local hospital, women's aid refuge and police family protection unit who like teddies (teddy for tragedies pattern) for child witnesses and child victims. I do sometimes post offerings, such as hats for seamen, but can keep knitting lots of charity donations without the need to pay postage. As you say then the money can go on wool. Keep up the lovely knitting. Great blog, please keep blogging and inspiring, x
ReplyDeleteI think that the Post Office and other courier companies should donate a certain amount of free postage to charities so that people who give up their time to help others don't have to be out of pocket. It's good PR for them and great for the charity so win win - good on you for sticking with it though and paying out of your own pocket! Jane xx (CraftHippy)
ReplyDeleteThose waistcoats are adorable!
ReplyDeleteHere in America, I don't really know how the postal rates compare with other countries - I guess I never really thought about it. It's a shame it has become a factor in your ability to send things to charity. :-(
Please have a look at Parcels to Go... Anything up to 2 kilos within certain dimensions. 30 cms square I think ( but my parcels have exceeded this) go for £4. You can use collect and go and drop the parcels off at a local shop. I have has super service from them as each parcel is tracked and is delivered quickly.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yes I already use Collect+ and find them very fast. They charged £4.99 for a parcel that Royal Mail would have charged £8 for. I always start by looking at Parcel2Go and they usually list Collect+ as the cheapest for me. But now that their prices are going up, things might change.
DeleteJust come across your blog, I have bookmarked the charity as I'd like to knit a few things for them too.
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