As it’s a rather different way to donate to a good cause, we often find ourselves wondering what it is that may have prompted people to donate their car to a particular charity. Over the last year we’ve reached out to some of the lovely people that have chosen to use Charity Car and asked about their car donations. We’ve had some interesting and moving responses and wanted to share their stories with you…
“I know it’s silly, but I was finding it hard to let go of my old Clio; she was my 17th Birthday present and had been a great car for so many years, so I had a lot of memories attached to her. I knew for a few years she wasn’t going to last much longer, with more and more repairs becoming necessary and breakdowns happening more often. Finally, the clutch gave out, and repairing her again was too much. I knew scrappage was the only option, but it just didn’t feel right.
When someone told me about donating cars for charity, this seemed like a much better idea and a much better end for the old girl. The online form was easy to fill out, and Charity Car contacted me within a few days to arrange for her to be picked up. I also wanted to keep a few bits as a momentum, like the registration plate, and they told me which bits I could and couldn’t keep. When they came to pick the car up, the guy was really friendly and made sure I knew what bits of paperwork I needed to fill out for the DVLA.
So, all in all, the experience was quick and easy, and everyone I spoke to was lovely. The hardest part was choosing which charity to donate her to. I was amazed at how much my old Clio raised for charity – it was more than I expected! And Charity car was the only car donation company I found that gives 100% to charity, which made me feel much better about letting go of a car that I was very emotionally attached to.”
The Charity Car team was thrilled to read Nat’s story as, apart from the fact Nat had a good experience with our team, it was donating their Clio to a good cause, any good cause, that made their experience so positive. Nat actually ended up choosing the fantastic CRISIS, which is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness.
“At Crisis we work side by side with thousands of people each year as they find ways out of homelessness. Every donation to the charity helps us to provide the practical support needed to help people access benefits, healthcare services, employment opportunities, and more. A huge thank you to Nat for using Charity Car to send Crisis the proceeds from her beloved Clio! Donations like these help fund our main aim – to relieve the huge pressure of homelessness, by helping people find safe and affordable homes as quickly as possible. We also use funds to drive our campaign on the political changes needed to end homelessness for good and conduct research to understand and highlight the scale, causes and consequences of homelessness.” Crisis
Crisis Skylight London
A donated car helps CRISIS fund innovative education, employment, housing and well-being services throughout the year, carefully addressing individual’s needs. This valuable work gives people experiencing homelessness the tools they need to find jobs and accommodation and truly helps them transform their lives. That’s a pretty impressive result from an old car.
If you are thinking about donating an old car, you can find out more about how it works or go straight to choosing which one of our wonderful charity partners you’d choose to donate it to!
If you’ve donated an old car to charity and that car, or the person that drove it, had an interesting story, or maybe it’s just a charity that’s close to your heart for a special reason, we’d love to hear from you.
It would be great if you are happy to share your story with this community of people, but we’d like to hear from you either way – your stories are what drives the Charity Car team.
