Oundle Waste Less encourages residents to declutter and donate

Oundle residents are being encouraged to set up a stall to pass on their unwanted belongings after lockdown clearouts.

Oundle Waste Less (OWL) will be holding a Declutter and Donate event on Sunday, September 20, between midday to 4pm and is asking residents to register to add a stall and sell their pre-loved items, anything from clothes to furniture, to encourage people to waste less.

OWL project manager, Camilla Sherwin, said: "Around 35 locations participated in the first Declutter and Donate event, generating over £2,000 in total and raising over £1,500 for charities such as Oundle Community First Responders, Oundle Volunteer Action, the East Anglian Air Ambulance and Parkinson’s UK."

The event also aims to support local charity shops by taking the strain off them, as donations are difficult to manage due to the pandemic.

Declutter and Donate also gives stallholders the chance to make some money out of their pre-loved items, either for themselves or a charity of their choice.

The Oundle Waste Less project is run by Transition Oundle, which aims to encourage people to make simple changes to reduce unnecessary waste. The project is funded by National Lottery and East Northants Resource Management Facility Funding.

Ms Sherwin said: "We hope our second event will be even more successful.

"The pandemic has hit charities' income hard, so this is a good opportunity to raise some funds for them and rehome some useful, pre-loved items."

If the area goes into a local lockdown, the event will be cancelled. It will also be postponed if the weather forecast looks bad. Updates will be posted on the Oundle Waste Less Facebook page.

Anyone who would like to have a stall should email [email protected] by September 16, including brief details of where your stall will be, what you are selling and if you are donating any proceeds to a chosen charity.

Stall holders will need to read a risk assessment and agree to put a few simple coronavirus prevention measures in place, like having hand sanitiser available.

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