Are you doing some spring cleaning or moving houses and looking to get rid of some stuff? Throwing away furniture, clothes, books or clothes can feel unnecessarily wasteful when there’s still so much use to get out of them. So why not give to a good cause and donate? You can let go of your stuff and you support your community — it’s a win-win for everyone!
Fortunately, Cape Town has a whole host of organisations that would be more than happy to take the load off of your hands
While they each do incredible work for their community, supporting important causes, a lot of them aren’t well known and are hidden gems hiding in Cape Town’s suburbs.
So if you want to donate your furniture and other items in Cape Town, here are seven amazing organisations to support.
Oasis is a non-profit organisation based in Cape Town that has been working for over 70 years to create opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.
Oasis supports over 500 beneficiaries, offering a supportive environment offered for the beneficiaries with intellectual disabilities, to enable them to seamlessly transition from school into work opportunities and further development. They produce a range of services, including:
Workshops
Day centres
Group homes
Adult groups
When you donate your pre-loved goods to one of Oasis’ charity shops, they are able to use the profits to provide for their beneficiaries and change someone’s life. Plus, if you’d rather not get your own furniture removal services, they provide free collection of larger items of furniture within Cape Town
Items: Furniture, household goods, clothes, books, art, electronics and bric-a-brac
Locations: Claremont, Lavender, Fish Hoek, Elsies River
Help the Rural Children consists of a chain of charity shops which support the Goedgedacht Trust which was founded in 1993 to contribute to the transformation of disadvantaged communities in the West Coast.
The Goedgedacht Trust supports and invests in the local community through 3 programmes:
Path Onto Prosperity
Care for the Planet
Goedgedacht Rural Academy
Donating items that you no longer want to Help the Rural Children help them raise the funds they need to keep this transformative initiative running.
Accepted Items: Second-hand furniture, clothes, books, CDs, DVDs, toys, games, sports equipment and bric-a-brac.
Locations: Clothing — Cape Town City Centre, Sea Point, Retreat and Mowbray; Furniture — Retreat; Books — Kirstenhof
The Rape Crisis Helderberg is a non-profit organisation that is committed to helping survivors of rape, incest and abuse to overcome their trauma.
This organisation offers survivors free, professional counselling in the Somerset West area, as well as other forms of resources and support. They also provide loved ones of rape and abuse survivors with guidance on how they can better support their friend, family or child.
By donating items to the Rape Crisis Helderberg bargain shop, you can help ensure that their services remain free for those who desperately need them. Donations can be dropped off or pick-ups can be arranged.
Accepted Items: Household items, furniture, appliances, clothing, etc.
Locations: Somerset West
The Salvation Army Charity Shop in Cape Town forms part of a global network with a history that goes all the way back to 1865.
With the saying, “Heart to God, Hand to Man, guiding its mission, this Christian-based organisation has a number of local initiatives with the aim of addressing the needs for social relief and justice in communities through the organisation’s formal community care and development work. These include:
Hospitals
PHC and Mobile Clinics
Psychiatric Centres
Rehabilitation Centres
Anti-Human Trafficking
Family Tracing
Working with Children and Elderly
Emergency Services
Work with Abused Women and Children
You can help support these initiatives by donating your unused goods to their charity shop in Cape Town.
Accepted Items: Furniture, clothing, bedding, curtains, electrical appliances, artwork, ornaments and bric-a-brac.
Locations: Goodwood
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U-turn is on a mission to equip people with skills to overcome homelessness.
Founded over 25 years ago, U-turn has built a comprehensive phased program designed by a multidisciplinary team of social workers, homeless support workers, occupational therapists, counsellors, trainers and coaches to create an effective pathway for every person experiencing homelessness in South Africa.
The items you donate to U-turn may be given to a service centre, re-sold at a U-turn thrift store, re-sold online or used at one of the U-turn projects. They even have a thrift store on wheels in the form of a bus boosting accessibility.
Accepted Items: Furniture, antiques, home appliances, cutlery and clothes
Locations: Household goods — Parow, Tygerberg and Access Park; Clothing — Claremont, Maynard Mall, Cape Town City Centre, Durbanville and Charlesville
TEARS Animal Rescue is one of South Africa’s leading animal welfare organisations that has served for the past 24 years as a sanctuary and rescue centre for homeless and injured animals.
TEARS strives to end homelessness, neglect and abuse in the communities they serve through medical assistance, humane education, rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming.
Other than visiting and volunteering at one of their many rescue shelters, you can support furry friends in need by donating anything you no longer need to one of their charity shops or bookshops.
Accepted Items: Furniture, household items, appliances, linen, clothes, books, human decor, bric-a-brac and more.
Locations: Sunny Acres, Fish Hoek, Valyland and Retreat
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DARG is a pro-life, non-profit organisation that rescues, cares for, sterilises and rehomes previously abused, neglected and abandoned cats and dogs. DARG provides a crucial role for the communities of Imizamo Yethu, Hangberg and the greater Hout Bay area.
DARG has many initiatives to help raise funds for their extraordinary efforts including their online shop, bookshop and garage sale which takes place Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 am - 3 pm, as well as Saturdays 11 am - 2 pm on Hout Bay Main Road.
Depending on what you’re able to donate, it will either go towards providing for the animals in the rescue centre, such as blankets, toys, bowls, etc., or towards their bookshop and garage sale.
Accepted Items: Furniture, household goods, kitchenware, appliances, clothing, books, carpets, games, artwork, pet toys, linen, gardening tools and sports equipment.
Locations: Hout Bay
Make donating bulky furniture easier with Wise Move. Book small load furniture removals for affordable transport to your chosen donation centre.
Whether you’re donating a single sofa or several pieces of furniture, our professional movers can handle the lifting, loading and delivery. Tell us what needs moving, where it’s going and when the donation centre can receive it.
Get your furniture removal quote today and help your unwanted furniture find a useful new home.
Wise Move is South Africa’s leading moving service, helping thousands of customers with home moves, furniture removals, car and motorcycle transport, and more. Since 2017, we’ve been delivering reliable, affordable, and well-reviewed moving services in just a few simple steps. Our focus has always been on making moving as simple and effortless as possible for our customers.
