Oxfam Ireland Homepage
  • 3 mins read time
  • Published: 28th February 2021
  • Blog by Christine Bale

Fashion Relief Donation Drive - we want your pre-loved gems

fashion relief donation drive clearout ad
Join Brendan Courtney in supporting Fashion Relief with Lorraine Keane.

It’s almost the spring – according to the calendar, anyway. So, if you’re at home, looking around the office-gym formerly known as your bedroom and wondering where all that clutter came from, you’re not alone.

And better still, help is on the way!

Style guru and TV presenter Brendan Courtney is teaming up with broadcaster Lorraine Keane for a donation drive in aid of Fashion Relief, Lorraine’s sustainable fashion fundraiser with Oxfam Ireland.

It’s your chance to spring-clean your home while raising money to support Oxfam’s work in some of the world’s poorest countries.

"The evenings are getting longer, and our homes are probably starting to feel a little more cluttered as, let's face it, we are all spending a lot of time in them these days, so why not start your spring-clean early and send your pre-loved gems over to us at Fashion Relief." “People can donate up to 12 items at a time. When they let us know that they would like to donate, we will send a pre-paid and addressed donation bag out to them. Once their donations are packaged up all they need to do is bring them to their local post office and they will be winging their way to us at Fashion Relief.”
— Lorraine

Fashion Relief started in 2018 when Lorraine teamed up with Oxfam Ireland to organise a series of live events. Since then, the fundraiser has raised almost €270,000 for Oxfam’s work in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. 

It’s also part of Oxfam’s solution to ‘throwaway fashion’, encouraging people to donate pre-loved items rather than binning them. Retailers are also supported to donate their end-of-line or excess stock instead of sending it to landfill – a more sustainable solution for people and planet.

"What better way to start a journey to a more sustainable lifestyle, than with the clothes we wear." "By donating items to Fashion Relief, you are reducing the amount of clothes and textiles that end up in landfill and giving pre-loved clothes a second lease of life, while also supporting people experiencing poverty and disaster."
— Brendan
“When Covid-19 resulted in the postponement of the 2020 events, Fashion Relief pivoted to an online shopping platform with the help of Irish tech firm Axonista. Now we are pivoting to Instagram and the fashionistas of Ireland to ensure we can continue to offer people unique fashion finds at discounted prices. “This is our own little Fashion Relief circular economy – as long as people continue to donate fabulous items, we will continue to have fabulous bargains up for grabs.”
— Lorraine

The profits from Fashion Relief support Oxfam’s work in some of the world’s poorest countries, helping people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive as well as saving lives when disaster strikes.

If you have any items you’d like to donate to Fashion Relief’s donation drive, contact Aisling at aisling.wallace@oxfam.org to arrange for delivery of your donation bag.