Bedford “exploring options” over Salvation Army clothing banks

The charity has about 8,000 clothing banks, external across the country, including the six in the Bedford council district.

It blamed its decision on a drop in interest in second-hand clothing which it said was due to an increase in cheap, new, low-quality clothing available in regular high street stores and online.

Conservative-run Bedford Borough Council said it was looking into a free monthly kerbside collection service for textiles after more than half of responses to its Resources Waste Strategy, external consultation said they would be keen to use it.

In the meantime, Gribble told people should “keep donating or reusing good quality clothes through other routes, such as charity shops, retail stores and online.”

She added they should not “leave bags at or beside removed banks as it creates a mess and may lead to a fixed penalty notice”.

The authority also advised that clothing and shoes must not be placed in household orange-lidded wheelie bins as they would not be collected if textiles were found inside.

A number of mini-recycling centers, external and the Household Waste Recycling Center, external on Barkers Lane, Bedford, would still accept textiles and residents were also being encouraged to repair items at home or take them to a local clothing alteration company or a Bedford Repair Café event, external.

A Salvation Army spokesperson said: “We are always very grateful when people make the effort to donate their clothing, and we thought very carefully before making the difficult decision to remove some of our clothing banks in Bedford.

“We are still in need of good quality second-hand clothing in our charity shops [including one on Bedford High Street] and donation centers, so please visit our website to find your nearest donation point , externalor you can donate to us by post, external“