Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer is one of the UK’s leading high-street brands. And so is Oxfam. Now we’ve come together to pioneer a brilliant joint initiative…

It’s called the M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange. It’s the biggest clothing recycling campaign in the country. Anyone who donates a garment with an M&S label to any Oxfam shop – or a bag of clothes with just one M&S-labelled item among them – will receive an M&S voucher worth £5 (€7) in exchange. They can redeem the voucher, within a calendar month, when they spend £35 or more on clothing, homeware or beauty products at any M&S store.

“This partnership is an enormous opportunity. Oxfam is very excited to be working with M&S, to help make a real difference to global poverty,” commented Oxfam Director Barbara Stocking.

“It’s a triple win,” added Sir Stuart Rose, Marks & Spencer’s Chief Executive. “ It’s good for customers, good for people in developing countries and good for the environment. We are pleased that we have teamed up with Oxfam.”

The M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange will help to reduce the staggering one million tonnes of clothing that the UK public sends to landfill every year – especially since so much of it is still in good condition; just no longer wanted.

According to a new YouGov survey, commissioned by Oxfam and Marks & Spencer, 46 per cent of people’s clothes – an estimated 2.4 billion items – were not worn once in the last year. These unworn clothes could be easily donated to Oxfam and raise vital funds to find long-lasting ways to beat poverty.