‘Gift of the Year’ awards result in perfect prizes for a local charity’s fundraising carnival
Following a recent partnership with A Good Thing, the team at the Giftware Association decided it was the perfect platform to give away leftover gift items that had been submitted for judging at its prestigious ‘Gift of the Year’ awards. These listings resulted in some of our most curious items to date being donated to local charity NewStarts.
Awarding excellence
The Giftware Association is the national trade body serving the gift and home industry, and has been in operation for over 70 years. Members range from retailers to suppliers, and high street brands to individual craftspeople: the Association is keen to see members thrive and grow through opportunity, community and connectivity.
The organisation’s annual ‘Gift of the Year’ awards do just that – the awards are the most highly respected industry accolades, aimed at recognising the best new products, talent and inspiration within the industry each year.
It’s no surprise that the annual awards attract entries from businesses involved in the gifting industry from all across the world. Categories include Beauty, Bath & Spa, Ethical and Sustainable Gift, Festive & Occasions, Home, and Food and Drink, to name a few! Each year companies send in samples to be judged… and competition is fierce. Once the competition is over the products are then donated to a charity.
Alina Masood, Business Development Manager, explained:
“Being crowned a category winner gives your business industry-wide recognition. Previous entrants have seen a huge boost to their sales and revenue. The competition gives a unique platform to all that enter, and welcomes all businesses – whether they’re a start-up or a multinational brand.”
“Judges really get to grips with the products during ‘live’ judging panels: the finish, the look, feel, and (in some cases) even the smell and taste are all taken into consideration. Once judging is over, the products are then free to be donated to charity.”
This year the items included Peter Rabbit figurines, jewellery sets, colouring books, games, hanging decorations, tea towels, jigsaw puzzles, photo frames, can coolers and handheld games – a real myriad of things!
Local fundraising carnival
When CEO of NewStarts, Marion Kenyon, saw the snazzy offers pop into her inbox she immediately knew they would be just the thing for the charity’s upcoming ‘Frankley Carnival’ – an annual fundraising event led and managed by a team of volunteers.
The event is popular with local residents and includes a range of stalls, rides and games. Every year the tombola is a firm family favourite and the offers were the perfect prizes, Marion shared:
“I’m always excited when I see an email pop up from A Good Thing. We have previously received a set of cupboards for a family, and also sunflower seeds which were given to our local community programmes – but these were really splendid items and I was delighted when we were chosen by the business.”
“Every year we hold a tombola, usually with donated soft toys as prizes, so when I saw all of the different toys, games, jewellery sets and figurines on offer, I knew they were just perfect for the carnival and would enable us to offer really nice quality prizes.”
The carnival was a huge success and even took place on a sunny day! Overall £1,600 was raised for the charity, with the tombola being a significant contributor. The funds are essential for the charity, which supports local families in need. NewStarts has three core activities that aim to help meet the practical needs of people on low incomes who are moving into social housing following a period of homelessness or other personal trauma or financial crisis: firstly, relieving poverty by donating household furniture and food, secondly, reducing homelessness by assisting resettlement and thirdly, protecting the environment by promoting furniture reuse.
With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to cause financial strain on local communities, the fundraising event couldn’t have come at a better time. Marion commented:
“We’re seeing a huge increase in demand for our food and uniform banks over the summer months. We’ve set up a community supermarket which sells low-cost local fruit and vegetables, so families have one less thing to worry about. Demand increases weekly.”
The money raised will be used to continue to make these services available and to support the rollout of the charity’s new Money Mentors programme: a service which will provide local people with free financial advice.
So easy to use!
Both the charity and business were enthused by how easy the platform is to use. Katie Tomkinson, Administrative Executive at the Giftware Association, commented:
“It was so easy to use and the team at A Good Thing is really friendly and helpful. We didn’t really need much help – but knew there was someone there if we needed a hand. It was so lovely to see all the requests coming in from the charities. We’re all delighted the gifts will not just be sitting on a shelf gathering dust! They have immediately made a difference in our local community. We can’t wait to offer more items to local charities through the app. Thank you, A Good Thing.”
Marion was equally enthusiastic:
“It’s always a thrill when I see an email from A Good Thing. There are lots of ways our charity uses different things to diversify our revenue streams, to ultimately support families in our local community. A Good Thing is so easy to use and it’s making a real difference to our charity and our community. We’re so lucky to have been matched three times, with three different local businesses, it’s really helping us to continue our work. Thank you, A Good Thing, it’s amazing”.
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