Clear out your clutter this New Year and raise cash for North West Cancer Research

North West Cancer Research is helping you clear out your clutter in 2025, whilst supporting vital work in our city region along the way.

New Year is a great time to have a good sort out – but clearing out the clutter doesn’t just help find space to stash away the deccies and all the stuff you got for Christmas, it could help fund much-needed work by North West Cancer Research.

For the last four years North West Cancer Research has partnered with Collect My Clothes to transform your old clothing and toys into much needed funds.

“We get a payment of £250 for every ton of goods that are collected, and that goes straight to the research and outreach work we do to find cancer cures and help prevent the disease here in Merseyside and the North West,” says Cara Newton, director of brand and income.

“So that unwanted dress or bag could actually save someone’s life.” 

NWCR began partnering Collect My Clothes in lockdown when it was looking at alternatives as fund raising and events were forced to stop.

“Since then it’s gone from strength to strength,” adds Cara. “So far we’ve raised £35,000 – so it’s crucial to the work we do.

“And when times are difficult and people can find it hard to donate money, it means they can still support a local charity like ours.”

You can recycle clothes, toys, shoes and accessories with Collect My Clothes, and once you got everything together all you need to do is put it into a clean bag (ideally waterproof if you’re leaving it outside).

Collect My Clothes can be contacted via phone or by filling in an online form – and you can even get in touch with them on WhatsApp – to request and arrange a free collection.

“It’s just so easy to do,” says Cara, “and because they come to you it means you don’t drive round with it in you car boot before dropping it off anywhere. They’ll give you a date and a time when they can pick up and they’ll collect from anywhere in the Merseyside region and around 80% of the north west. You can pop in your postcode to find out if you’re eligible for collections.

“It’s a brilliant service, the guys are polite, reliable and really lovely.”

And it’s not just North West Cancer Research that you’ll support.

“Collect My Clothes is a local family-run firm so you’ll be helping them, and all your unwanted goods will be recycled or reused ethically, with most being sent to Eastern Europe and Africa to provide people with affordable clothing.  So it’s a win-win,” smiles Cara.

Funds created will be invested in North West Cancer Research’s life-saving research projects, as well as its outreach work and education to promote early detection and, if possible, prevention.

“About 40% of cancers are preventable, so that money can help us to go out and stop cancers from happening by encouraging people to take part in screening programmes, or improving things to put them at lower risk.

“People in the region are 25% more likely to develop cancer and be diagnosed with it.”

With certain cancers that figure is even higher, like lung cancer (44%), liver cancer (43%), and skin cancer (35%): “So it’s absolutely vital to us,” says Cara.

“Just one bag of clothes goes towards our research and contributes to our outreach and education, so if people can consider North West Cancer Research when they’re clearing out their clutter this New Year, we’d be delighted and extremely grateful.”

Find out more about the campaign HERE.

We’re compiling a list of charities in Liverpool that need our support this year. You can read it HERE.