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Donate Clothes

There are many items our guests can find a use for. We give out free clothing, toiletries and many other items through our clothes store to people who need them.

If you have unwanted items you think may be useful, please get in touch. We can’t promise to take everything you don’t want but we will try to use as much as possible. For all enquiries about donations of clothes and other items distributed through our clothes store please contact us via clothes@oxfordgatehouse.org or send us a message below.
Contact the team



    Also look at our Donate Money and Gifts in Wills pages for other ways that you could help to provide funds for us.

    Who do the clothes get donated to?

    Thank you for offering to donate to The Gatehouse. Clothes and other items in the clothes store are donated to our guests free of charge. Some of our guests are sleeping rough on the pavement in doorways, underground car parks, stairwells or in tents, in cars and vans, or boats. Other guests are living in hostels or moving between hostels and other temporary accommodation. Some of our guests are accommodated but have a history of homelessness.

    Our guests really do appreciate the generosity of the general public and acknowledge this support as they face the hostile challenge of living on the street. Whilst you might be able to keep yourself clean, keeping your belongings clean and dry when it’s cold or pouring with rain can be hard on the streets. Your donations go a long way supporting people in the uphill struggle with the elements.

    What kind of clothes does The Gatehouse need?

    A full list of commonly required items can be found lower down this page.

    Clothing needs to be suitable for the current season, practical, and able to cope with the weather and to keep people warm (e.g. shoes need to be waterproof).

    Clothes need to be clean and in good condition.

    People like to look nice and each person has their own taste in clothes; being homeless does not change this!

    Whilst The Gatehouse does not have room to store formal clothing such as suits or shirts, we do like to provide a choice of good outdoor and casual clothing that helps our guests to present themselves in a way that makes them feel good.

    Where to bring your donation?

    Our community centre is located at:

    St Giles Parish Rooms
    10 Woodstock Road
    Oxford OX2 6HT

    Please come to the red doors on Woodstock Road (behind the black gates) and press the doorbell where a member of staff will be able to help take your donations.
    Get directions on Google Maps

    Where can you park your car?

    There is no parking space at the Gatehouse. It may be possible to pull up temporarily on Woodstock Road by the red doors whilst you unload. Alternatively, there is a space between the Parish Rooms garden and the bins and bicycle racks at the back of St Giles Church where you can temporarily park if it is empty. Please note that this parking space belongs to the Church and should only be used for a few minutes whilst you are unloading.

    Which items do the Gatehouse regularly need?

    We’ve drawn up an Amazon Wish List which contains examples of new items that are particularly in demand at the moment.
    View Amazon Wish List
    The following list includes a wider range of the types of clothing, bedding and toiletries that we regularly hand out to guests. Most of these can be donated second-hand items rather than new unless it indicates otherwise.
    Expand to list items we regularly require

    Bedding etc.

    • Blankets (wool/acrylic – not cotton please).
    • Sleeping bags (new and used)
    • Camping mats to protect sleeping bags from wet ground
    • Tents
    • Rucksacks and holdalls

    A special note on duvets: Please, before dropping off your duvet donations, email clothes@oxfordgatehouse.org to check our current stock levels. We usually only need single duvets with the very occasional double requested. Because we have a very small store room we can only store 5 or 6 duvets at a time. We may we ask you to hold on to the duvet if possible until we have some space freed up.

    Men & Women’s clothing:

    • Gloves – fleece/sturdy gloves. (No ‘magic’ gloves please)
    • Hats (practical / waterproof)
    • Socks – (only new)

    Men’s clothing:

    • Jackets and trousers especially sizes 32” and 34” (practical / winter / waterproof / jeans)
    • Jumpers and hoodies
    • Boxer shorts (only new)
    • Waterproof trainers + boots
    • Belts

    Women’s clothing:

    • Outdoor/practical shoes and boots particularly sizes 7 to 8
    • Trousers / leggings and jackets

    Toiletries etc.

    • Razors – Shaving cream and shaving gel
    • Hairbrushes (only new)
    • Deodorants (spray as opposed to roll on)
    • Tissues – paper tissues in small packs
    • Shampoo, conditioner and shower gel
    • Toothbrushes and Toothpaste
    • Candles (preferred to night lights)

    Which items are not needed by the Gatehouse?

    The following items are rarely if ever needed as we provide support for adults only, most of whom are men, and their requirements are generally for outdoor, weatherproof, informal clothing. Please do not bring any of these items to the Gatehouse as donations unless we have specifically made a one-off request for them and you have received confirmation from us that we would like to receive them.
    • Baby and children’s clothes
    • Nappies
    • Canvas shoes, crocs and slippers
    • Formal men’s clothing – suits, trousers, jackets
    • Men’s shirts
    • Women’s dresses
    • Make up
    • Half used toiletries
    Any of the donated items that are not needed or not appropriate for use by Guests at the Gatehouse subsequently need to be sorted, and either recycled, passed on to another charitable organisation, or otherwise disposed of, all of which takes up valuable time for our hard-working staff and volunteers. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

    On occasions where we have been donated clothing that can’t be used by our community but is suitable for charity shops or recycling, we do this through our partner recycling company We Recycle Clothes or a local charity shop in an attempt to reduce waste and the impact on the environment. The minimal funds earned from recycling go straight back into our community centre.

    Find out more about We Recycle Clothes.
    We Recycle Clothes logo