My Thrift Shop Road Trip - Researching US Corporate Social Responsibility Partnerships in the Charity Retail Sector

My Thrift Shop Road Trip
   Researching US Corporate Social
Responsibility Partnerships in the Charity
              Retail Sector

              Rachel Bright
    Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
  Fellowship Report July – August 2013

R Bright Fellowship Report 2013

Contents

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.....................................................2

What is Corporate Social Responsibility............................................3

Introduction.......................................................................................4

Aims....................................................................................................5

Project Locations and map..................................................................6

PROJECT 1: Housing Works, New York................................................7

PROJECT 2: Impact Thrift, Philadelphia.............................................13

PROJECT 3: Arc Thrift, Colorado.........................................................16

PROJECT 4: Goodwill, San Francisco..................................................21

Conclusion.........................................................................................23

Dissemination....................................................................................24

Acknowledgements............................................................................25

Appendix............................................................................................26

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The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust[1] was established when Sir Winston
Churchill died in 1965. Thousands of people, out of respect and in gratitude for
his inspired leadership, gave generously so that a living memorial to the great
man could benefit future generations of British people. This fund now supports
100 Travelling Fellowships and ten Bursaries at Churchill College Cambridge,
each year based on the Trust’s charitable Object of:

“The advancement and propagation of education in any part of the world for
the benefit of British citizens of all walks of life in such exclusively charitable
manner that such education will make its recipients more effective in their life
and work, whilst benefiting themselves and their communities, and ultimately
the UK as a whole”.

                               The trust awards travelling fellowships to British
                               citizens from all walks of life to travel overseas,
                               and to bring back knowledge and best practice for
                               the benefit of others in their UK professions and
                               communities. Successful candidates can travel
                               overseas for between four and eight weeks.

It is a huge personal honour to have been granted a Winston Churchill
Travelling Fellowship for 2013 in the ‘Business in Society’ category, and to have
been given this opportunity of a lifetime.

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What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?

Although different organisations have framed different definitions, there is
considerable common ground between them. The World Business Council for
Sustainable Development in its publication Making Good Business Sense used
the following definition;

‘Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to
behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the
quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local
community and society at large’.[2]

Outside stakeholders are taking an increasing interest in the activity of their
companies. Most look to the outer circle - what their company has actually
done (good or bad), in terms of its products and services, in terms of its impact
on the environment and on local communities, or in how it treats and develops
its workforce. Out of the various stakeholders, it is financial analysts who
predominantly focus (in addition to past financial performance) on quality of
management as an indicator of likely future performance.

The European Commission hedges its bets with two definitions wrapped into
one;

‘A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better
society and a cleaner environment. A concept whereby companies integrate
social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their
interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis’.[3]

When you review each of these, they broadly agree that the definition now
focuses on the impact of how the core business is managed. Some go further
than others in prescribing how far companies should go beyond managing their
own impact, into the terrain of acting specifically outside of that focus in order
to make a contribution to the achievement of broader societal goals.

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Introduction
For the past 5 years I have worked for ‘Mercy in Action’[4], a UK registered
charity working with street children and destitute families in the Philippines.
My current role as Head of Retail sees me overseeing 13 stores, a central
warehousing operations and a retail office team.

My fellowship officially began on the 10th July this year. However, it actually
started well before that at the 2012 Annual Charity Retail Association
Conference. This is when I heard Marks & Spencer's Mike Barry speak about
their 'Plan A' corporate social responsibility strategy, which incorporates the
ground breaking and high profile Oxfam 'Shwopping' initiative[5]. This
challenged me to think further about whether Mercy in Action could benefit
from a corporate partnership like this.

When the WCMT announced their grant categories in 2012, and the 'Business
in Society' category included a focus on CSR projects, it felt like a sign that it
was my time to apply. My planned trip would involve visiting non-profit thrift
organisations which were involved in CSR projects across North America, and
also visit as many independent and chain thrift stores as along the way as I
could, in order to help pick up ideas and inspiration.

In mid February I received the amazing news that my application had been
successful, and I was one of 125 people to be chosen from 1161 applicants as a
2013 Fellow.

I hope this report will not only bring my fellowship to life, but will also help
disseminate my gained knowledge and understanding of some of the amazing
thrift innovations happening in the US thrift sector. This in turn will hopefully
inspire development of your own enterprise, particularly in the charity retail
sector.

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Fellowship Aims

The aims of my project were:

1. To visit a number of small to medium sized charities, similar in size to Mercy
in Action, and organisations with well developed CSR projects.

2. To explore a range of creative initiatives that exist between corporates and
their charity retail partners.

3. To gain a hands-on understanding of how these partnerships are organised
and coordinated by the charities themselves.

4. To understand how these relationships began, and continue to be fostered by
both the corporates and charities involved.

5. To establish long term relationships with charities in USA, to allow
opportunity to receive ongoing advice, and share information on new
innovations in this sector.

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Project Locations
 The map below shows the locations of the four projects which after months of
 research and negotiation, I deemed the most interesting:

    1.   Housing Works, New York, NY
    2.   Impact Thrift, Philadelphia, PA
    3.   Arc Thrift, Denver, CO
    4.   Goodwill, San Francisco, CA

 The trip would take me 5,000
 miles across North America, from
 the east coast to the west coast by
 car, flying into New York and out
 of San Francisco.

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My trip involved some very long drives through stunning landscapes, including this one in Utah as we passed
through Arches National Park.

PROJECT 1: Housing Works, New York NY
Housing Works is described as ‘a healing community of people living with and
affected by HIV/AIDS. Their mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness
and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and
entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts.’

From their website;
“Housing Works Three Pillars:

Advocacy
Through our advocacy offices in New York City, Albany, Washington D.C., Mississippi and
abroad in Haiti and Puerto Rico, Housing Works fights for funding and legislation to ensure
that all people living with HIV/AIDS have access to quality housing, healthcare, HIV
prevention information and other life-sustaining services, as well as legal protections from
stigma and discrimination. Housing Works is a grassroots organization committed to the use
of non-violent civil disobedience in order to further our mission to end AIDS and
homelessness.

Services
Since 1990, we have provided a comprehensive array of services to more than 20,000
homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. We believe that providing
stable housing is healthcare and is the first step toward living a long and healthy life.
Supportive services include but are not limited to housing, healthcare, meals and nutritional
counseling, mental health and substance use treatment, job training, and legal assistance.

Entrepreneurial Businesses
Housing Works pioneered the concept of social enterprise–businesses whose profits fund the
mission of a parent not-for-profit organisation. This self-sustaining model provides
employment opportunities to the community in addition to fundraising. The 12 acclaimed
Housing Works Thrift Shops, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe and The Works Catering account
for approximately 25% of our $43 million annual operating budget.
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit several of the Housing Works Thrift Stores and the
                                              [6]
Bookstore Cafe during my stay in New York.”

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Pictured below are some ideas of the branding and interiors of these high end,
boutique-type stores. They were a pleasure to visit, and gave me lots of ideas
for how charity retail in the UK could continue to be developed visually.

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Housing Works CSR Partnerships
Whilst in New York City (during the first leg of my fellowship), I had the
pleasure of meeting with David Raper, Vice President at Housing works. We
discussed some of the innovative CSR partnerships my online research had
flagged up, and which generate an important part of their $13m annual retail
turnover.

Fashion for Action, an annual
fundraiser is running for the 10th
consecutive year in November 2013[7].
The event brings together 250 designer
brands who each donate fashion,
accessories and beauty items.

This year’s event included Oscar-
nominated actress Patricia Clarkson as
co-chair. The New York-based actress
has a long history with Housing Works,
first as a shopper and now a celebrity
using her influence to advocate for an
AIDS free generation.

The VIP party then makes way for the doors to open to the general public who
can shop to their hearts content and purchase some amazing designer stock at
greatly reduced prices. Items from this year’s event raised over $1m.

                                                                 The event is supported by
                                                                 hundreds of brands,
                                                                 including Calvin Klein, Marc
                                                                 Jacobs, MaxMara, Donna
                                                                 Karan, Yumi Kim, Gucci,
                                                                 Tiffany & Co, Chanel,
                                                                 Coach, GANT and Hugo
                                                                 Boss. Each donate items to
                                                                 this high profile New York
                                                                 event.

Some of the donated designer items that went on sale this year

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Design on a Dime is Housing Works second annual fundraiser[8]. Each year
volunteer Designers create a room vignette using new and donated
merchandise from high-end brands, manufacturers and dealers. Once the
rooms have been designed, the items are sold off to the public for 50-70% off
retail price.

The 2013 event featured 62 of the world’s top interior designers and raised a
staggering and record breaking $1.1m! In its 9th year, the 3-day interiors sale
and reception was attended by over 3,000 people who shopped through 62
rooms designed with floor to ceiling product for sale at deep discounts.

The fundraiser’s Opening Night Reception was co-chaired by five of the US interior industry’s leading females,
including: Yetta Banks (Viacom), Genevieve Gorder (HGTV’s “Design Star), Evette Ríos (ABC’s “The Chew”),
Sabrina Soto (HGTV’s “High Low Project”) and Lara Spencer (“Good Morning America”).

Proceeds from the 2013 multi-day event and sale funded two housing
development projects serving clients in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood
of Brooklyn. Design on a Dime also plan to fund the furnishing 12 apartments
in Housing Works’ much anticipated Jefferson Avenue Residence. Additional
funds will help turn a vacant 6,000 sq ft. lot, into a beautiful and safe home for
27 single, formerly homeless adults living with HIV/AIDS.

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Buy the Bag Initiative
Although the ‘Buy the Bag’ store is not directly a CSR project, it is a very
innovative retail concept, and my trip included a visit to the newly opened
store in a warehouse building in Brooklyn.

Here customers pay $25 (approx
£17) for a large paper bag to fill up
with contemporary, designer and
vintage apparel (some in need of a
little TLC, but all is stock which
hasn’t yet been sent to a thrift
store for sale, so incredible
treasures can be found). There is no
limit on the number of bags that
can be purchased per customer.

The high ceilings and simple white walls give a cool setting for large metal pens filled with piles of unsorted
textiles and shoes.

Store manager Alan explained the store concept and shopper demographic to
me. Like the UK market, US thrift retailers sell thousands of tons of textiles to
the trade each year for recycling (although US rates are on average 50% less
per kg than the UK). The Buy the Bag store concept gives shoppers the chance

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to purchase stock which may not be suitable for Housing Works boutique
stores, but is too good to be destroyed.

Many shoppers are locals, shopping for their own families (it's predominantly a
low income neighbourhood), but they also include re-sellers and ethically
aware young professionals and students - the latter is the customer base they
are keenest to build upon.

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PROJECT 2: Impact! Thrift, Philadelphia PA

Impact! Thrift Stores is a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to
financially support local charities through the net proceeds generated by their
thrift store operations. Impact!’s financial support of these local charities
enables their staff to spend more time doing what they do best—feeding the
hungry, housing the homeless, and supporting children and families in need.
Impact’s profits are split between 18 charities, working both within the US and
abroad. Around 70% of these are faith based groups.

During the second leg of my trip I had the pleasure of spending the
day with Impact!’s Director of Business Development, Jo Greenawalt. Her
warm and hospitable welcome meant my day with Impact! was filled with
incredibly invaluable information for my fellowship. It was clear throughout
the day that both Jo and CEO Paul Baur, who I also spent time with, shared a
deep passion for the charities they support, which helps to drive Impact!
forward. This was particularly inspiring.

Impact! - the Stores
The Impact! Thrift stores are SUPERSIZE in
every way, ranging in size from 18,000 sq
feet to a staggering and frankly
overwhelming 50,000 square feet of sales
space. With the average Mercy in Action
store at around 2,000 square feet it was a
supersize experience!

               Pictured above is a panoramic image of the 50,000 square ft Feasterville store

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Impact! CSR and Community Partnerships

During my research back at the beginning of the year, Impact! Thrift stood out
due to the scores of corporate partners listed on their website. My conclusion
was that if they had so many corporate partners, then they must have some
great initiatives to engage them. Thankfully I was right.

While I was with Impact!, I learnt about a number of very effective CSR
partnerships they have established, including:

    1. Company/Community Collection Drives: Impact! Thrift send a truck to a
       company's office, to pick up donations from employees.
    2. Company donations (small): Companies can donate new merchandise,
       eg. excess stock, damaged items, customer returns, etc.
    3. Company donations (large): Larger scale donations, eg. Gently-used
       office furniture, unneeded when companies replace desks, chairs, lamps,
       bookcases, etc. Again van collection is offered to make this as easy as
       possible for the donating company.

Companies getting involved with a donation drive are given a document which
outlines things like desired donations, what can and cannot be accepted and
offers practical help and information about organising the event. This ensures
that Impact! communicates their professionalism and that expectations are
clear on both sides.

On top of their CSR partnerships, Impact! have a very tangible desire to be
actively involved in the local community, and have invested themselves in
this with gusto over the last few years. First and foremost are their community
partnerships and programs which benefit the local community, but this in turn
raises awareness of Impact! stores, which in turn generates donations and
volunteer hours. Some of these partnerships include:

    1. Helping Hands Program: Impact! offer practical 'gifts in kind' to local
       families/groups in the local area who are in need (these are referred
       through social service agencies, churches and emergency response
       teams (fire & police) in the area).
    2. Community Service opportunities: A mandatory volunteer program that
       sends teens & adults who have been in minor trouble and 'pay'
       restitution by assigned volunteer hours (from 10 hours to
       1,000). Also Academic Community Service, a program to give students
       experience of the workplace is offered through Impact!.

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    3. Impact! LIVE: A student leadership and community service program
       which encourages students to develop their very own Impact!
       thrift donation drive or event, writing a business plan and organising
       their own marketing and operations. This program ticks boxes for the
       curriculum meaning it can form part of a student’s education. By the
       sounds of it, the teachers love it as much as the students! Again a handy
       and professional manual outlines the roles, expectations and demands
       of the event, guiding students whilst still leaving space for them to use
       their creative ideas to make the event their own.
    4. Store based Community Events: such as weekly pensioners’ Bingo with
       a thrift twist (all the 'numbers' are instead familiar Impact! words eg. Re-
       use, Affordable, Collection drive etc).

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PROJECT 3: Arc Thrift, Denver CO

Following a week of very long drives (nearly 2000 miles in total from
Philadelphia), I arrived in Denver for my third project at Arc Thrift.

Kathy McAdoo (Arc’s director of community events and vehicle donations)
kindly spent the day giving me a fantastic tour of their operations, answering
my many questions and sharing all about the Arc thrift CSR partnerships.
Kathy's openness (along with that of the managers and staff I met throughout
the day) meant that I have had a wealth of information to mull over for my
research.

About Arc Thrift
With 22 stores across the state of Colorado, 1200 members of staff, 108,000 sq
ft of warehousing, 8 drive-thru donation stations and scores of community and
corporate partnerships, Arc is understandably a high profile thrift network in
the area. The brand image is strong, professional and very fun - see their little
bird character ‘Arcky’ (pictured in reception below).

From their website;
 'The mission of the Arc Thrift Stores is to enhance the lives of individuals with developmental
disabilities and their families by providing funding to support the Arc and ACL chapters in
Colorado. We believe that all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities should
have the opportunity to decide how they live, learn, work, and play'.[9]

However their involvement goes much wider than passing on funds to the
various Arc chapters. Employment and training opportunities and ambassador
roles are offered to many individuals who are seen as a key part of the day to
day operations of the business. These people also make up over 10% of Arc’s
workforce.

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Arc Thrift Stores
A tour of a couple of the Arc Thrift stores revealed a highly organised and
passionate team, running a professional operation. Of course the stores were
super sized, and like Impact had large teams running them.

Arc process stock at store level, where it is sorted, cleaned, priced and
displayed for sale. The stores are generally large (10,000 sq ft and up - think
big, out of town units), so again the biggest challenge for the staff is stock
levels. A minimum of 5000 items are put out for sale in just the above store
alone, per day! Stock levels were good throughout the stores that I visited.

Arc need therefore to be extremely focused on generating the high volume
donations required for the successful running of their 22 stores. Through
weekly donations taskforce meetings, a clear and multi-faceted plan is
followed which keeps donations at a high level. Arc donation drive
initiatives, although not necessarily new to the sector in the USA, are executed
with military precision and seeing them up close has led me to consider
whether they are something that could be transferred to the UK.

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Donation Stations (Drive-thru with a difference)
Arc operate 8 donation stations across the state. The one I visited in Denver is
one of the most successful, having generated over one million lbs of donations
last year alone. It is staffed with one full time member of staff (Monday to
Friday), and is covered part-time over the weekend meaning overheads are
kept low.

The site is a disused petrol station, and staff welcome donors at their car
windows and build up great rapport with repeat donors. They collect donations
direct from the boots of donor cars directly meaning minimal effort is needed
on the part of the donor. The donations are loaded onto pallets, wrapped,
labelled, and sent daily to be processed at store level.

House to House Donation Collections
Arc operate a fleet of 55 vans, which collect at around 7,500 Colorado homes
every week. To book these collections, a team of 50 call centre operatives are
employed to contact individuals (using a mailing list). They let each interested
potential donor know there is a donation drive taking place in their area, and
whenever possible schedule in a collection. Around 50,000 separate donation
collections are generated in this way each and every month.

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The Sky Sox Baseball Partnership
Arc are one of the official sponsors for the Sky Sox baseball team[10], based in
Colorado Springs. The Sky Sox is the only triple A affiliate to major league
baseball in the Colorado Rockies which translates to a high profile in the local
area, and a large fan base.
Arc pay for the privilege to be an official sponsor of the Sky Sox, a deal which
runs for one 5 month season, so this is obviously a corporate partnership with
a difference.

Jon Eddy, Director of Marketing and Promotions at Sky Sox, was first
approached by Kathy during a cold call with a request for an auction lot, and
their relationship has developed over the years. This demonstrates once again
the time and effort required to develop corporate contacts which may in the
future develop into long term CSR partners.

Kathy kindly managed to arrange for me to attend a Sky Sox home game in
Colorado Springs on the Sunday of my visit. It was a fantastic chance to see
how the partnership worked first hand.

The game included music between every ball thrown, a crazy mascot called Sox (the fox, of course) and games,
               giveaways and prizes like hotel breaks, season tickets and scores of baseballs.

The benefits of this partnership for Arc are far reaching and clear to see. With
Arc organising a 'tailgate BBQ' fundraiser before the game (a BBQ in the
parking lot, served from cars) and were mentioned numerous times the game,
including at one of the breaks where an ‘Arky’ Arc advert was shown on the
electronic score board. So far Arc have been thrilled with the 5 month
season partnership, so it will be really interesting to see if they continue it next
year.
Arc also run events, fundraisers and store openings where Sox (the Sky Sox
mascot) attends as the 'VIP'. They are able to openly advertise their
relationship with the Sky Sox in their stores and on local TV, radio and roadside
adverts.

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Other CSR and community partnerships at Arc Thirft
Arc also run a wide and diverse range of community events and partnerships.
These range from events that benefit their target group, those with
developmental disabilities and those that benefit the community as a whole,
particularly those from low income families. The second of these programs
often involve a partner charity who co-ordinate the program on the ground.
I've pulled out some that stood out and could be easily transferable to the UK:

Fill-a-truck Fundraiser - involves supporting local community groups to raise
their own funds through collecting donations for Arc. Arc deliver a truck to an
agreed location and the community group fill the truck with donations
generated from their friends, family and supporters. Upon collection of the
truck, Arc pay $'s per pound for the donations collected. The community
group are happy to have funds for their next activity or event (often scout or
girl guides groups), and Arc get some great donations.

Voucher Distribution - Arc produce an estimated 100,000+ shopping vouchers
each year that are distributed to local charities to give out to their clients, Arc
partner with both the Salvation Army and Volunteers of America. Each $5
voucher is redeemable in store, there is no minimum spend and vouchers can
be added together meaning 4 vouchers, worth $20, could be spent in store at
once. There is no catch (although understandably no change will be given).

Volunteers of America (VoA) City Harvest Annual Food Drive[11] - each year
VoA run an food drive. This is in essence a huge annual food bank. In the
months running up to the event, Arc tell every potential donor they speak to
at their call centre about the drive, and offer to pick up donations of food at
the doorstep while picking up donations of goods for their stores. Arc then
store, and eventually package up the food which is then given to the
partnering charities to distribute. This year, 150 tons of food has been
collected this way.

Back to School drive - every year a number of charities in the Denver area run
a back to school drive. This drive offers children receiving school meals a
chance to have free clothing, shoes and supplies to help ease the cost of their
return to school. Arc provide 100% of the clothes for this initiative. They also
partner with Crocs (who are based in Denver) who last year gave each child in
the program two pairs of shoes. This was organised and arranged by Arc.

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PROJECT 4: Goodwill, San Francisco CA
After a further 2,000 miles on the road we arrived in San Francisco. Thankfully
the famous summer fog lifted for a few days to give me an unexpectedly sunny
time in this historic city.
I had scheduled a meeting with Linda Shih, director of Sales and Marketing of
Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo & Marin at my final project
location.

About Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries represents 165 networks across the US, each of which is
completely separate to the next. They do however each share the same
common goal, offering customised job training, employment placement and a
range of other services to people who have disabilities, lack education or job
experience or face other employment or work related challenges.

San Francisco Goodwill, although small compared to many others, is a $36
million operation, with 21 retail stores in the SF area providing 80% of its
overall funding.
750 employees work across the organisation as a whole, and over 250 of these
work from their central offices, warehouse and flagship stores I visited on
Mission St in downtown SF.

                        Flagship store, 1570 Mission St. San Fransisco

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Goodwill San Francisco CSR

The CSR project I was most keen to find out about was the 'Goodwill
Recompute' scheme.

It offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to donate their old
computers/used electronic devices to the scheme. Trained Recompute
workshop technicians then refurbish the old machines/devices or build new
ones from harvested parts. The computer scheme saved the carbon equivalent
of 500 cars last year alone.

The scheme ensures unusable parts are fully recycled. On the job training is
offered to new technicians, who are provided with placements to learn these
new skills.

Refurbished machines are sold at Goodwill stores so low income families
can purchase up to date computer equipment at low prices.

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Conclusion

Below are some important or particularly memorable elements of the trip
which have influenced my research and professional role in the UK since my
return home;

     Thrifting in New York – I will always remember (and one day hope to
      return to see) the high-end thrift stores in Manhattan, NY. Each had
      their own unique boutique, vintage or industrial feel and some of the
      best designer clothing and interior donations I have seen. These will
      definitely influence my drive to continue to create and shop in these
      types of stores in the UK.
     CSR partnerships with a difference - Sky Sox baseball game experience in
      Colorado Springs; seeing how a corporate sponsorship can work for a
      non-profit organisation. As corporate partnerships become more sought
      after, the charity retail sector in the UK could learn much from the
      benefits of this partnership with a difference.
     Community Partnerships - As my time unfolded at both Impact! Thrift,
      PA and Arc Thrift, CO my interest was sparked by their plethora of
      community partnerships. Both Impact! and Arc have initiated a host of
      original community partnerships with local community groups, schools
      and charities. As well as ensuring positive, long-term relationships are
      built within these groups, the partnerships have also greatly benefited a
      wide variety of people in the local communities of both Pennsylvania
      and Colorado respectively.

In the end, my fellowship travels included time spent in 14 states and 7 major
cities. I covered over 5000 miles, took 2000 photos and received 5500 blog
views - all in 35 days!

However, it is only since my arrival back in the UK that I have fully realised that
far from being over, my fellowship is only now beginning. My dissemination
will be a long term project it itself and I am very excited to see how the
application of my research will develop and evolve over the coming years.

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Dissemination

My ongoing dissemination includes:

     Enable Mercy in Action to develop new CSR partnerships, which will
      enhance our charity retail business in the UK, and ultimately generate
      finances for our overseas projects.
     Begin to develop similar community partnerships in local communities
      where the 13 Mercy in Action stores are located, building greater local
      awareness of our overseas projects and benefitting the local population
      in these areas.
     Sharing my research in my local area (South West England) with several
      local charities in the charity retail sector with which I already have
      relationships.
     Engaging further with the Charity Retail Association[13] (the leading
      umbrella organisation for the charity retail sector) to discuss my
      research, and hosting a seminar at 2014 annual conference to ensure my
      research is available to as many people in the charity retail sector as
      possible.

The dissemination of my research began almost the moment I was back,
contacting the numerous people I connected with during my trip, both at
home and in the US.

The blog I wrote during my trip [12] has attracted more interest than I ever
could have hoped for, and has already enabled me to make many contacts
with people who would like to read my research and discuss my findings in
relation to their charity retail operations.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, without their
funding none of this would have been possible. I hope, over time to prove that
I was a worthy recipient of this prestigious fellowship award.

My deepest thanks and appreciation go to:

David Raper and the retail team at Housing Works, NY

www.housingworks.org

Jo Greenawalt, Paul Baur and the team at Impact Thrift, PA

www.impactthrift.org

Kathy McAdoo and the team at Arc Thrift, CO

www.arcthrift.org

Linda Shih and the team at Goodwill, San Francisco, CA

www.goodwillsf.org

To everyone as Mercy in Action, especially the Directors for enabling me to
take advantage of this opportunity.

To my lovely children Ellie, Finn & Jude, thank you for being patient.

And finally, to my husband Si, for his love and support during the trip. He
calmed my nerves on many meeting days and let me keep the light on during
the numerous occasions my research and blog kept me working into the early
hours.

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R Bright Fellowship Report 2013

Appendix

    1. Winston Churchill Memorial Trust website link http://www.wcmt.org.uk/

    2. World Business Council for Sustainable Development ‘Making Good Business
       Sense’ definition link http://research.dnv.com/csr/PW_Tools/PWD/1/00/L/1-
       00-L-2001-01-0/lib2001/WBCSD_Making_Good_Business_Sense.pdf

    3. European Commission CSR definition link
       http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/corporate-
       social-responsibility/index_en.htm

    4. Mercy in Action website link http://www.mercyinaction.org.uk/

    5. Marks & Spencer 'Plan A' link http://plana.marksandspencer.com

    6. Housing works mission link http://www.housingworks.org/about/mission/

    7. Housing Works ‘Fashion for Action’ link http://www.fashionforaction.org/

    8. Housing Works ‘Design on a Dime’ link
       http://www.housingworks.org/events/design-on-a-dime/

    9. Arc Thrift website quote mission link http://www.arcthrift.org/mission/our-
       mission.html

    10. Sky Sox website link http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t551

    11. Volunteers of America - City Harvest Annual Food Drive
       http://www.voacolorado.org/

    12. Rachel Bright Blog link http://mycharityretailfellowship.blogspot.co.uk/

    13. Charity Retail Association website link http://www.charityretail.org.uk/

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