First target reached! Stretch target: £3,000
We aimed to be able to fund these Free Shops until the end of this year. Now we see ...
First target reached!
Stretch target: £3,000
11 days left
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We aimed to be able to fund these Free Shops until the end of this year. Now we see ...
Aim: Reducing the amount of goods that go to landfill; offering a dignified way for families in poverty to clothe themselves
The Ideas Partnership has worked in Kosovo with some of the poorest communities for 15 years. We have seen how baby blankets can ensure a clean, warm start in life for Kosovo's most vulnerable infants; how a pair of shoes can literally walk a child to school; how a decent schoolbag can ensure they stay and succeed there. We receive many boxes and bags of goods to distribute every month, including beautiful woollens hand-knitted in the UK, but now we want to change the way that the families we serve are able to receive the goods they need. A 'free shop' offers parents the chance to select exactly what they need, giving them agency and ensuring nothing is wasted, without requiring them to pay for the goods they take.
We also know that those donating goods are happy to find a way to ensure that pre-loved items don't go to landfill.
We have a perfect space for this Free Shop to open in our new centre in the heart of the community we serve in Fushe Kosove. This centre is used by over 800 mothers and children every year. We already have had some shelves donated for the Free Shop but we need to get some other elements in place in order to function successfully and sustainably:
* some additional hardware (lockable cupboard; rail; hangers)
*promotional posters and fliers to advertise the opportunity in the community and to the parents and carers of children attending our centre
*a contribution to the salary of someone from the community who can manage the shop, opening it at regular times each week
* an awning to ensure coolth for 'shoppers' in the heat of summer
*a contribution to electricity and cleaning costs
*a contribution to transport costs - our employee from the community can use the van that was donated to us to collect goods in the Prishtina area, and this will cover the costs of fuel etc. for securing goods for the shop
These are the basics, but we have ideas for expanding the Free Shop area to offer a space for products made by entrepreneurs from the community to be displayed and sold. If we manage to get the Free Shop running successfully in Fushe Kosove, we also have interest for the model to be replicated in Janjevo/a, so we believe this project will have a multiplier effect.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 31st July 2025 at 5:48pm