Some 40 per cent of unwanted Christmas gifts go to charity, according to a survey commissioned by children’s charity Barnardo’s.
The YouGov survey coincides with a campaign asking people to donate their unwanted gifts to a local Barnardo’s charity shop.
YouGov surveyed 2,050 adults, 1,864 of who received Christmas gifts and just under half said that they received unwanted gifts last year. 36 per cent of them stored them in a cupboard, never to be used.
Around a third (34 per cent) re-gifted them and 11 per cent sold them.
Only 4 per cent returned the unwanted gifts to the store they were purchased from and 4 per cent threw them in the bin.
Reasons for not donating gifts
Reasons for not donating the unwanted gifts to charity ranged from intending to re-gift it (24 per cent) and guilt about giving them away (20 per cent).
Some 15 per cent said they didn’t get around to taking it to a charity shop and 11 per cent wanted to pretend they were using it. 8 per cent of the recipients of gifts did not think anyone would want to buy their unwanted present from a charity shop and 4 per cent planned to return it to the store of purchase.
‘Somebody else can find joy in our unwanted gifts’
Javed Khan, chief executive at Barnardo’s, said: “We’ve all received gifts that end up at the back of a cupboard. But this year, instead of holding onto gifts that you’ll never use, we’re asking people to donate them to their local Barnardo’s shop.
“Donating to our stores means somebody else can find joy in our unwanted gifts.
“It also helps Barnardo’s to bring care, hope and love to vulnerable children across the UK, at Christmas and all year round.”
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