Community Voices - Cathy Benwell, Co-founder and Charity Relationships Lead at A Good Thing.
"We’re helping charities to obtain the things they need, while providing businesses with a sustainable and ethical means of disposing of unwanted goods."
Today our Head of Communications, Luke Upton, sat down with Cathy Benwell, Co-founder and Charity Relationships Lead at A Good Thing, a fantastic organisation that we’ve been proud to work a little with this year. Their idea is a real novel one, so we are delighted to hear directly from them about their story, goals and some of the more unusual items they’ve received.
Luke Upton (LU): Where did the idea for A Good Thing come from, and how did you get it started?
Cathy Benwell (CB): My husband Richard and I (pictured below) co-founded A Good Thing in 2020, but we’d been discussing the idea for many years by that point. Life had been busy: we had set up a software start-up and were raising three young children. Lockdown happened, and suddenly we had a bit of time in the evenings and at the weekends. It was a real “now or never” moment! in March 2020 Richard began spending his evenings developing the online platform and building the website. I threw myself into using Zoom to create connections in the Thames Valley, where we were living: with nearby charities, with local authorities, with businesses and with community foundations. By February 2021 we had registered with Companies House, made our website live and were ready for the pilot. The response was brilliant: charities loved the idea, and scrambled to sign up. Businesses were desperate to support their local communities, many of which were suffering the devastating effects of covid and multiple lockdowns.
LU: How does your platform deliver for both charities and corporates?
CB: A Good Thing ( @agoodthing_uk ) is an online platform that matches charities with local businesses that have things to give away. A business lists an item and a charity responds with a request. Contact details are exchanged, and the charity arranges to collect from the business. We’re helping charities to obtain the things they need, while providing businesses with a sustainable and ethical means of disposing of unwanted goods. We’re rehoming items that would often have ended up in landfill, and building strong links within communities – all via a simple-to-use app.
LU: What kind of items are charities typically looking for?
CB: It is such a huge range – from nappies and wet wipes (for a charity supporting disadvantaged families) to electric blankets and hot water bottles (for a charity working with people living in fuel poverty). And everything in between! In the past year we have had requests for stationery, vacuum cleaners, laptops, paint, saucepans, crowd barriers, hot chocolate powder, bird-nesting boxes and a portaloo, among hundreds of other things!
LU: Are there any partnerships you’ve helped facilitate that you are particularly proud?
CB: One of the matches that’s closest to my heart is beautiful babygros and bibs that went from a Not on the High Street business to a brilliant charity working with victims of domestic abuse – mainly women and children. But we also saw handmade boutique candles going to a charity working with families suffering financial hardship last Christmas – such a lovely way to show people that they are not alone, and to share light and joy with them.
"Beyond just the items that are being given from a business to a nearby charity, we want A Good Thing to be helping to be build deeper, longer-lasting links between these two communities."
LU: What are some of the more unusual items you’ve helped share?
CB: Definitely the 200 squeezy rubber goldfish-shaped stress toys that were donated last month by a promotional merchandise company! These were branded items that were not needed any longer by the firm’s client, and would have been very challenging to dispose of sustainably, or to recycle. The 200 joyful, brightly-coloured fish were split across four different charities, all doing wonderful work with young people in situations of desperate need.
LU: If we were talking again in five years’ time, what would you like A Good Thing to be helping deliver?
CB: Our vision is for A Good Thing to be the go-to site for connecting businesses and charities. Beyond just the items that are being given from a business to a nearby charity, we want A Good Thing to be helping to be build deeper, longer-lasting links between these two communities. We would love A Good Thing to become a badge of honour that businesses will strive to achieve through working with their local charities: their entranceways and their websites will proudly display stickers that proclaim “We’ve done A Good Thing”.