The idea works! But now we need your help…

After a successful pilot connecting local businesses and charities in the Thames Valley area, we’re ready to take this national and we need your help.

It started as just an idea – a “what if”. But the past six months have seen it grow into something bigger and better than we had dreamed of.

For many years we had talked about the idea of a matchmaking service that would link up businesses with charities in their local areas – it would be as easy as logging into Airbnb and searching for a holiday let, or posting something to our Freecycle group and having it collected by a neighbour in need. We had asked ourselves why it didn’t seem to exist already – at least in a digitally sophisticated, streamlined, simple and easy-to-use way. The pandemic eventually gave us the opportunity to make our idea a reality… and then the past five months have given us the chance to prove that it works and is needed.

Here is a recap of our journey so far.

Starting local - the Thames Valley pilot

Since our pilot launched on 3 February, with a focus on the Thames Valley (broadly Slough, Maidenhead, Marlow, Reading and Oxford) we have had almost 50 charities and over 30 businesses sign up with us (our aim had been to recruit 15 or 20 businesses, so we were pleased).

Over the last few months we have worked hard to get our message out there: we have been interviewed for a podcast about sustainability and have talked about our mission on local radio. We have engaged with town centre partnerships across the Thames Valley area, and built some great relationships with organisations like the community foundation Heart of Bucks. We have built links with the Clare Foundation, which seeks to bring businesses and charities together, and have been featured in a number of local community newsletters. We have built a network of amazing local charities – many of which we never even knew existed – and got to know some fantastic, socially engaged businesses based in our area. It’s been really inspiring.

Jack & Jillaroo donates beautiful blankets to The Baby Bank via A Good Thing

By the end of the first five days of the project, we already had 20 charities on board – and the feedback we were hearing was so encouraging. Businesses were telling us how thrilled they were to have the opportunity to do something sustainable, and to support their local communities. Some of them were already thinking about their eventual return to the workplace, about how those spaces might be changing, and about what they would be repurposing. And charities were telling us how desperately in need they were – how the pandemic had changed the funding landscape and how they were having to be cleverer than ever before about making best use of their resources. We knew we had hit a nerve.

During the pilot we made 10 successful matches – all items which were in need of a new home, and which have brought great benefits to a local charity. We have had beautiful baby blankets donated to a charity that works with vulnerable families in Berkshire, IT equipment donated to an Aylesbury charity working with disabled children, and furniture donated to a charity that supports the very poorest residents of Freetown in Sierra Leone… Just a few examples of the fantastic matches we have been able to make thanks to the platform.

Feedback – we’ve made it simple

Users have loved the simplicity of the site, and the ease with which they’ve been able to sign up. Charities have used A Good Thing to publish wish list-type requests – suggestions of items they’re in need of for particular projects. One charity was running a gardening project with disabled children, and was seeking some wooden trugs. Another was looking to provide ‘back to school’ packs for low-income families – stationery, uniform, and other essentials to ease the return to the classroom post pandemic. We were so thrilled that A Good Thing was here to help these charities with their requests.

The pandemic has shrunk people’s worlds in a way we could not have predicted: from talking to those we work with, we have learned that there is a real emphasis on the small and the local. This is where A Good Thing has come in: large companies often have pre-existing relationships with charities at a corporate level, but we can link up small businesses with small, local charities. This seems to be what is wanted and needed right now – we feel that A Good Thing has arrived at just the right moment.

Again and again, three main themes have come out of the work we have done so far:

• People have a deep desire to do good in their local communities – people have become connected to their immediate areas in a way they may not ever have been before.

• There is an urgent need to boost our local charities in the post-pandemic world – their work is more and more important, and yet they are more stretched than they have ever been.

• There is a strong desire within communities to reduce waste, and more consciousness around sustainability.

Some of the businesses that have worked with us have given us some wonderful feedback. Jack and Jillaroo, the baby blanket manufacturer that donated hundreds of their gorgeous organic cotton blankets to a charity supporting vulnerable Berkshire families told us:

“Using A Good Thing couldn’t have been easier. The whole experience really was hassle-free. I think there could be a lot of demand for this service. I know of many other businesses in my situation – wanting to pass on surplus stock for free but finding it very hard to do that.”

Pace, an Aylesbury-based charity that provides support for children with sensory and motor disorders, was similarly enthusiastic about its experience of having had some tech equipment donated by Mott MacDonald, a global engineering firm with offices in Reading. Rachel Covey, Pace’s Corporate and Philanthropy Fundraiser, told us:

“I loved the fact that it was super local, and the platform was so quick and easy to navigate around. The email alerts are great, as you can quickly and easily see what’s on offer – and whether it’s something you might need. Using A Good Thing was a real time-saver for me.”

There has been more of this sort of lovely feedback all along the way for us – which is so exciting, and has made everything feel so worthwhile.

Growing the idea– this is where we need your help

So, five months on, we are feeling hugely positive about the future of A Good Thing: we now plan to expand into other areas, beginning with Manchester and the north west, and are excited about the momentum that we think will build around the ‘return to the office’, as and when that happens in earnest. Businesses will be taking some time to reassess their space and their workplace needs – and we think this will be a real opportunity for A Good Thing. We are so excited about the next phase!

We need your help to spread the word. If you can, please:

• Follow us and re-share our posts on social media (Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, whatever’s your thing)

• Share a link with someone at work – operational roles such as finance, facilities or HR are often involved in donating

• Send to a friend – perhaps you know someone who helps run a local small business?

• Tell any charities you’re involved with to sign up!

Thank you. Looking forward to the next part of the journey!