Why children’s hospices are paying to throw away your donations

• Children's hospices face significant financial burden managing unsuitable donations, with Acorns spending approximately £100,000 annually on disposal costs—highlighting the need for public education on what constitutes helpful charitable giving.
• Donation centres lack capacity to process unusable items, diverting resources from direct patient care; clinicians may need to counsel patients' families on appropriate charitable contributions.
• Healthcare charities increasingly struggle with logistics of unwanted goods, suggesting doctors should direct patients towards monetary donations or specific needed items rather than general in-kind contributions to maximise charitable impact.

Acorns says it spends about £100,000 a year dealing with donated items that cannot be sold.

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