Our story
It is well-known that charities often lack the resources they need. At the same time, businesses generate too much waste. A Good Thing (AGT) is a not-for-profit organisation which addresses both these issues, through providing a free online platform for businesses to donate things to charities. AGT's platform enables as much reuse as possible and helps to create local circular economies, with as little waste as possible.
Founders Cathy Benwell and Richard Benwell founded AGT in 2020 after having created a successful partnership in which technology business SquaredUp (run by Richard) donate their no-longer needed laptops to charity Home-Start Slough (which Cathy is trustee for). Cathy and Richard wanted others to be able to benefit from partnerships like this, where charities can receive free items and save resources, and businesses can send less to landfill and more to a good cause. However, nothing linking charities and businesses seemed to exist– at least in a digitally sophisticated, streamlined, simple and easy-to-use way.
And so... AGT's journey began! The pandemic gave Cathy and Richard the opportunity to make their idea a reality and now they've been able to prove that their idea works and is needed. Since their pilot in 2021 with 20 participating businesses, over 300 businesses and 1,200 charities have joined AGT's online platform. It takes just 30 seconds for businesses and charities to create a free account on AGT's website, and businesses can give anything to charities, from half-used tins of paint to furniture.
A recent success story partnered 'North Harrow Community Library' and environmental non-profit organisation 'Get Rid Of And Donate', which ensured that hundreds of unwanted library books were saved from landfill and donated to families and refugees across the North-West London. There are many success stories like this on AGT's blog!
AGT have engaged with town centre partnerships across the Thames Valley area, and built some great relationships with organisations like the community foundation 'Heart of Bucks'. They've also built links with the Clare Foundation, which seeks to bring businesses and charities together, and have been featured in a number of local community newsletters. Ultimately, AGT have built a network of amazing local charities and got to know some fantastic, socially engaged businesses.
Our advice
Again and again, three main themes have come out of the work we have done so far:
- People have a deep desire to do good in their local communities; people have become connected to their immediate areas in a way they may not ever have been before.
- There is an urgent need to boost our local charities in the post-pandemic world; their work is more and more important, and yet they are more stretched than they have ever been.
- There is a strong desire within communities to reduce waste, and more consciousness around sustainability.
Our metrics
We measure how many charities and businesses are joining, how many items are being listed, and how many matches are made.
We have also estimated some statistics from 2021/2022: 34 tonnes of waste prevented from landfill; £64,300 of charity spend was saved; 91,360 tonnes of greenhouse gases prevented.
