Winter Coats Amnesty Update October 2015

As you may have already seen we have decided not to run a WCA campaign this year. This decision has been taken after much deliberation and in truth with a bit of a heavy heart but for all the right reasons.

Some of you might remember the reason we set up WCA was due to the fact Crisis (Newcastle) had lost their main source of clothing for Crisis at Christmas and with the help and support of a few individuals Winter Coats Amnesty was born in October 2011.

WCA has grown year on year due to your support and kindness to the point last year we received somewhere in the region of 7 tonnes of donations! It’s very hard to visualise that amount of clothes however I can assure you it’s about the size of a small mountain!

When we started WCA it was the only source of (free) warm clothing for the guests of Crisis but the emergence of numerous food banks (a sad reflection of where our society is at the moment) and other organisations has meant that there are more options for people in need of clothing at any time of the year. Surplus donations from WCA  have been going to a City Centre food bank for the last 3 years which inspired them to run a clothes bank alongside their food bank and I guess this has to be seen as part of the legacy of WCA.

We have always thought WCA would have been better if it was accessible from October or November onward rather than just for a couple of days in December but the limitation of storage and time have meant this is not something we could commit to. We approached a local charity this year who we thought would have been a great delivery partner but sadly this came to nothing.

This decision has been made after discussing the situation with Crisis and with their full support. You can still make donations direct to Crisis in Newcastle and we will soon publish a list of items they require as they have a very long list to make Crisis at Christmas a success. If you still want to get involved with making donations to Crisis then the contact details are here, however due to restrictions of storage they won’t be able to accept donations until December.

We are not saying that this is the end for WCA far from it, we are taking a year out to reflect, evaluate and redesign WCA. We are confident that the guests of Crisis are getting the support they need and you can still be part of this and we will let you know how when we have that information.

Thank you for all your support.

Andy Brown & Claire Paczko

This is a short film shot last year at Crisis at Christmas, it explains what we do and why we do it.

Huge thanks to Hannah Bayman for filming, editing and doing everything else to make this film possible.

Where Can You Drop Off Donations?

Donations can be dropped off between the Monday 3rd November and Friday 12th December at most of the drop off points listed below, but some may finish earlier so please check with the drop off point prior to making your donation for example The Co-operative Stores will be taking donations until 5th December.

Please note Co-operative Stores will only start accepting donations from the 17th November.

We are asking for all donations to be dropped off as early as possible but at the latest by the 12th December as this will give us enough time to sort the donations prior to Christmas Day. 

In the past this has been a monumental task that we haven't left ourselves enough time to do so this year Crisis are looking for volunteers to get involved sorting the clothing throughout December. If you have a few hours to spare and want to get involved please contact Adrian Conway the Christmas Co-ordinator at Crisis on adrian.conway@crisis.org.uk 

The drop off points are listed below and where possible I have supplied links to their websites so you may check opening hours etc.

Newcastle City Centre

Crisis Skylight 

City House  

1 City Road

Newcastle 

NE1 2AF

Northumbria Students Union

2 Sandyford Road 

Newcastle upon Tyne 

NE1 8SB

Newcastle Civic Centre
Customer Service
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8QH

North Tyneside

Tantalizing Beauty Salon 

16 Ann Street 

Shiremoor 

NE27 0QR

*Accepting Donations until the 5th December.

T: @tantalizingNE

Whitley Bay Sea Cadets 

Bromley Avenue 

Whitley Bay 

NE25 8BF

T: @TSWhitley

Creative Up North 

12- 13 Northumberland Street

North Shields 

NE30 1DS

T: @CreativeUpNorth

Please note Creative Up North will be accepting Donations until the 1st December. 

Northumberland

Wansbeck Chiropractic Clinic - Ashington

196 Milburn Road 

Ashington 

NE63 0PH

Will be accepting donations up until the 5th December.

Treacle Wool Shop 

Off Bridge Street 

Chantry Place 

Morpeth 

NE61 1JF

T :@treaclewoolshop

Vallum Farm  
Bakery and Patisserie Shop

East Wallhouses 

Military Road 

Newcastle 

NE18 0LL

T: @vallumbakery

South Tyneside

Wansbeck Chiropractic Clinic - South Shields 

8 Coronation Street 

South Shields 

NE33 1AZ

Will be accepting donations up until the 5th December.

Sunderland

Cool Designs Ltd 

Unit 8 North Hylton Enterprise Park 

Hepworth Rd

Sunderland 

SR5 3JT

* Cool Designs Will be accepting donations until the 7th December.

De Niros Barbers 

Silkworth Lane

Silkworth Road

East Herrington 

Sunderland 

SR3 3PP

0191 5283649

*De Niros will be accepting donations until the 5th December.

County Durham

Lickety Split Creamery

13 North Terrace 

Seaham 

SR7 7EU

Co-operative Stores

The Co-operative Stores have very kindly offered 40 of their stores to be drop off points and they are also raising money for Crisis throughout December which is brilliant. 

The Co-operative Stores will be accepting donations from the 17th November until the 5th December.

Bedlington Station

Birtley

Blaydon

Blyth – Southend Avenue

Choppington

Cramlington (Petrol Station)

Crawcrook

Crawcrook (Petrol Station)

Cullercoats

Dunston

Fenham – Cedar Road

Gateshead - Allerdene

Gateshead – Beacon Lough

Gateshead – Fewster Square

Gosforth - Regents Farm

Gosforth – High Street

Gosforth Park (Petrol Station)

High Heaton – Newton Road

Low Fell

Newcastle - Market Street

Newcastle – West Road

New Deleval

North Shields – Cleveland Road

North Shields

Penshaw

Ponteland

Ryton – Parsons Drive

South Shields – Meldon Terrace

Stakeford

Sunderland - Castletown

Sunderland –Hylton Castle

Sunderland – North Moor

Sunniside

Tynemouth

Washington

Washington (Petrol Station) Parsons Road

Whickham – Oakfield Road

Whitley Bay – Park Avenue

Wideopen - Reno House

Wrekenton

What We Need

Below is a list of the types of items we need in order to make Winter Coats Amnesty a success and help the guests of Crisis at Christmas.

• Warm Winter Coats
• Hats 
• Scarves
• Gloves
• Jeans / Trousers
• T-shirts
• Sweatshirts
• Hoodies
• Shirts 
• Tracksuits
• Trainers / Sturdy Shoes
• (New) Socks
• (New) Underwear

All the guests at Crisis at Christmas are over 18 and are mostly single so we don't have the need for children's clothes. We have both male and female guests and they are aged between18 and 80, so we are looking for donations suitable for all ages.

We require the donations to be in good repair and to be clean please. We don't have to resources or the funding to have things cleaned or repaired so please think about this when donating.

The donations you give make a huge difference to the guests of Crisis and it goes without saying that we couldn't do this without your support!