Swap your unwanted clothes for Peaches Geldof’s dress

Celebrities donate clothing to online charity auction where bidders’ unwanted clothes will be used instead of money

How much clothing do you have that you never wear? According to research carried out this year, on average we each own 22 items of unworn clothing.

Tomorrow, an online auction is hoping to make use of all these pieces of clothing by allowing people to use them as a means to bid for fashion items donated by celebrities. The person who donates the most items of clothing wins.

First up for grabs will be Peaches Geldof’s linen dress, and a new item will appear on the website every Monday for the next four weeks. Other celebrities who have donated clothes include Charlotte Church, Jeff Banks, and A Place in the Sun presenter Laura Hamilton.

Clothes Aid, the UK’s largest clothes collection company on behalf of charities, will sell all the items donated by bidders in order to raise funds for the NSPCC, Make-A-Wish UK Foundation and the Noah’s Ark Appeal.

Paul Amadi, Director of Fundraising at the NSPCC, said: ”This celebrity charity auction is a great way of getting people involved in clothing collections. The funds raised by members of the public who donate their unwanted clothes are invaluable to the NSPCC’s work. Our partnership with Clothes Aid has already made over £1.9m, which will help the NSPCC to continue to support and protect vulnerable children in the UK.”

The auction celebrates the launch of a new service from Clothes Aid called Charity Champions, whereby a network of volunteers collect good-quality clothes, shoes and accessories, still in wearable condition, from friends, family and colleagues a few times per year.

Clothing collections provide a valuable source of income for charities and Clothes Aid gives over £1.4m to UK charities every year. By encouraging people to give better quality clothing through the Charity Champions scheme, Clothes Aid aims to raise even more money for its charity partners.