A huge thank you to the generous customers at our Middleton sustainability store in Leeds who've donated 221 tonnes of clothing, textiles and other bric-a-brac – the equivalent of 4,000 bags – to the Salvation Army.

Through our partnership with The Salvation Army, we've provided customers with a dedicated 'drop and shop' donation point at the store for their unwanted items, which in return is raising vital funds for The Salvation Army and our Tickled Pink breast cancer charity campaign.

Coats, dresses, jeans, and baby clothes are among the items of clothing which are donated weekly in store. The Salvation Army has also received large amounts of other textiles including bed linen, shoes, CDs, DVDs, books and household bric-a-brac.

The drop and shop donation point encourages customers to recycle unwanted items which might otherwise have ended up in landfill.

Karen Todd, Asda’s senior manager for zero waste, said: “We’re really proud as a retailer to be able to support the great work of The Salvation Army in our communities and it’s been fantastic to see our customers and colleagues support the drop-off point in our Middleton store, which has been collecting huge amounts of donations each week.

"Tackling the issue of waste is something that our customers and colleagues are passionate about us addressing, which is why schemes like this that support them to do the right thing for the planet are really important. Not only are the unwanted clothes and other items given a second lease of life, but they’re also being diverted from potentially ending up in landfill.”

Kirk Bradley, The Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd’s head of corporate partnerships, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Asda’s sustainability team on the new drop and shop concept. This enables us to interact with Asda’s customers and donors; it also gives more people the opportunity to reuse and recycle their pre-loved items which helps reduce waste and raise more money for vital charity work.

“By donating to the Salvation Army drop and shop, or our clothing banks, people are supporting the work being done across the country to help some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, providing essentials like hot meals for rough sleepers, food parcels for struggling families and doorstep friendship for isolated older people, particularly during the pandemic."

In Leeds, when the pandemic hit, many support services offering emergency food were forced to close but Salvation Army churches were able to step in or increase their existing services.

The Salvation Army’s West Hunslet and Morley churches provided emergency food parcels, with volunteers delivering food to people who couldn’t get to them for help, while its Leeds Central church prepared hot daily meals. Those helped included young families finding it difficult to make ends meet, as well as homeless people, those with no recourse to public funds and those with mental health or addiction issues.

In addition, we're continuing to support the Salvation Army right across the country, as customers can drop off items at the charity’s clothing banks in over 400 of our store car parks. In 2020, these contributed over 8,100 tonnes of unwanted textiles, raising valuable funds for charities including The Salvation Army, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Asda’s Tickled pink campaign.