Clean out your cupboards to provide winter warmth

Warragul’s Vinnies Shop is calling for locals to clean out their wardrobes and donate any cosy winter clothes no longer needed.

Warragul store manager Lyn Parsonage said a lull of donations during last year’s lockdown had resulted in a shortage of winter woollies at the op shop.

Locals who bring in good-quality jackets, overcoats, jumpers, scarves, trousers and winter blankets from now until Sunday, July 25 will receive a 10 per cent discount voucher to be used in the Vinnies shop until August 8.

“When Melbourne was in lockdown, we didn’t get our normal lot of winter donations we would normally receive,” Ms Parsonage said.  “Donations were a lot quieter.  But we’re starting to get back to normal levels now.” 

Ms Parsonage said the op shop supported those in our community doing it tough, and many new faces had been seen in recent months.

“Everything we generate here stays with the local community.  We support local.”

The call-out from regional Victoria’s Vinnies Shops follows people generally not buying as much new seasonal clothing as normal during last year’s lockdown, which has had a knock-on effect to this year’s donations.

In addition, Vinnies Victoria has sought to keep stock transportation to a minimum to keep costs and emissions low.  Regional areas also generally experience lower temperatures and thus higher demand for winter clothing.

Vinnies Victoria’s commercial services executive general manager Jeff Antcliff encouraged people to give their donations directly to a volunteer at the counter so they can receive a “thank you”.

“Our regional Vinnies Shops kept the flag flying for us through nearly all of last year when our metropolitan shops had to close, and we want to be well-stocked with good-quality warm winter clothes this year for our loyal customers in those areas,” he said.

Vinnies Victoria handles an extraordinary amount of second-hand clothes.  Its shops serve around 80,000 people a week, sell more than six million items of clothing and save a further 3.5 million kilograms of textiles from landfill.

“Our hard-working shop volunteers are tireless in their efforts to keep our shops looking bright and attractive, and sales this year have been better than ever since recovering from the pandemic lockdowns,” Mr Antcliff said.  “We rely wholeheartedly on the generosity of the thoughtful Victorians who want to see their quality pre-loved goods go on to live new lives with other people, preventing unnecessary landfill and helping us to provide good-quality, low-cost clothes and household items to people in need.”

Mr Antcliff said all profits of Vinnies Shops go back into the local communities to fund welfare services to help people experiencing homelessness or who are struggling to put food on their tables or pay bills.