Saving lives (and cash!) with a woolly jumper...
Oxfam Ireland Press Release
28 January 2008
The 'M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange' launched in Dublin
Photo: Robbie Reynolds, Corporate PR Photography
From today (28 January), donating clothes to Oxfam will be even more rewarding. Customers that include items of M&S clothing in their clothing donations to Oxfam clothes stores across Ireland will receive a €7 voucher from M&S as part of the new M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange.
The Clothes Exchange at Oxfam has been made possible through a unique partnership between Oxfam and M&S to boost the numbers of quality clothes donated. The Exchange is designed to help raise funds for Oxfam's work with people living in poverty around the world and reduce the one million tonnes of clothing1 sent by the public to landfill in the UK and Ireland each year.
Customers making a donation of M&S labelled clothing2 will receive the €7 voucher, valid for one month, to spend on their next purchase of €50 or more in M&S on clothing, homeware or beauty products. The Exchange will be trialled for six months and reviewed on an ongoing basis.
The announcement marks the first anniversary of Plan A, M&S' 'eco-plan'. The partnership is part of M&S' commitment to encourage customers to recycle their clothes more.
Peter Tomlinson, Oxfam Ireland 's Business and Development Manager said: "We love getting donations of M&S clothing into the shop as customers know they are well made and that they're likely to last - so they sell really well."
"The Exchange benefits everyone - Oxfam gets more great clothes to sell and as a result can help more people escape poverty; customers get €7 off at M&S; and the amount of clothing that is reused and recycled dramatically increases."
Katie Stafford, Sustainable Development Manager, Marks & Spencer said: "We are delighted to have teamed up with Oxfam, the UK and Ireland 's biggest charity shop. The Exchange will encourage people to recycle clothes they no longer need, rather than throwing them away, and help raise money for Oxfam's great work around the world to tackle poverty."
M&S customers currently donate approximately one million items of clothing a year to Oxfam, representing around 16% of Oxfam's clothing recycling business.
Footnotes:
1Source: DEFRA 2006
2 One voucher will be provided in return for donations containing at least one piece of M&S labelled clothing or a handbag, pair of shoes, belt, hat, pair of gloves or scarf.
For further information for media, please call:
Oxfam Paul Dunphy, Oxfam Ireland
Tel: 01 6350422 / 087 9058075
M&S Lorraine Larmer/ Sinead Kavanagh, WHPR
Tel: 01 6690000
Mob: 087 9190738 (Lorraine) or 086 3849974 (Sinead)
Northern Ireland:
Oxfam Phillip Graham, Oxfam Ireland
Tel
028 9089 5959
ASG Public Relations
Sasha McKnight or Gabrielle O' Gara 028 9080 2000 / 07801 254703
Please also visit www.marksandspencer.com/plana
For images, please go to www.mandslibrary.co.uk
Notes to Editor
M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange
- The M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange will raise more money for Oxfam to help people escape poverty around the world. This includes dealing with issues in more than 70 countries, ranging from campaigning against unfair trade rules that keep developing countries in poverty, to providing tools, seeds and skills to poor farmers. It also means helping vulnerable communities when disasters happen; supporting women's rights in developing countries and working to tackle climate change and HIV and AIDS.
- Vouchers not issued for M&S intimate apparel (such as lingerie, underwear and swimwear), hosiery and socks that are donated to Oxfam.
- In the Republic of Ireland , M&S vouchers will be for €7 off €50 on M&S general merchandise.
- One M&S voucher distributed per donation.
- One M&S voucher can be used for each transaction in M&S for general merchandise products - clothing, home or beauty (not food).
Oxfam Ireland is an independent member of Oxfam International- a group of thirteen non-governmental agencies dedicated to fighting poverty and related injustice around the world.
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