Charity donors urged to join Gift Aid card scheme

Aug. 26, 2011 - PRLog -- If they don’t it means that St Peter’s Hospice is missing out on extra funds, vital to its on going work supporting people with life-threatening illnesses.

The hospice is now raising awareness of its own Gift Aid scheme and is urging everyone eligible and who donates goods to any of its 47 shops to sign up.

For those that do sign up it means that for every pound spent on items donated to the shops, the hospice can claim an extra 25p back off the taxman.

With an average bag of goods selling for £30 it could be worth £37.50 via Gift Aid and is why Karen Wiffen, Gift Aid manager at St Peter’s Hospice, wants more people to sign up.

Karen said: “Donating unwanted clothes, books and CDs to help patients with life limiting illnesses could be worth much more than many people think. You just need to be a UK tax payer to qualify for the scheme and spare a few seconds to fill out a simple form to join. It’s as easy as that.

“You will be given a card carrying your unique ID number and the items you donate are then tagged with this number. There is no need to fill out a form again and the card can be used when you make donations at any of our 47 shops.”

As with monetary donations via Gift Aid, money used to buy items in any of St Peter’s Hospice shops has, as far as the taxman is concerned already been taxed. It means charities take the money and reclaims the basic rate from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on its 'gross' equivalent.

Karen added: “Last year the charity raised £450,000 through the Gift Aid scheme thanks to donors signing up, but with the tax thresh hold reducing at the last budget it means we have to get more people signed up.

“There is absolutely no catch and the more people that use this scheme means more money for the hospice. It’s such a simple thing to do and forms a significant part of our overall fundraising efforts so to get more people to join would mean so much.”

As Bristol’s only adult hospice St Peter’s Hospice cares for local people with incurable diseases, giving them a better quality of life. All care is provided free of charge but the NHS contribute just 23% of the £6 million needed to run the hospice yearly.

Last year the hospice cared for 2,000 patients in the region and supported over 6,000 family members, including children.

To sign up to the Gift Aid scheme please visit one of the hospice’s 47 shops. To find out more about how to help St Peter’s Hospice visit www.stpetershospice.org.uk