Behind the scenes in our warehouse
Brief
16 of the In Kind Direct team left behind our spreadsheets and dining room desks to come together for a day in our warehouse. As several new people have joined In Kind Direct over the last year, it was the first in-person meet for many and even with masks on we pretty much recognised everyone in an instant from our virtual meetings.
Safety
We all took covid-19 tests in the morning to check that we were safe to gather together and Janet and Angie – our dynamic logistics duo based in Shropshire – were waiting to welcome us with a glint in their eye. They had planned out a number of special missions for us, and it was clear they expected us to work hard, no time to slack, with tight deadlines to hit.
Activity
One team repackaged mixed display stands of essential dental products into stackable, shippable catalogue-ready boxes of toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes. Another team sorted through vast cartons of sample trainers donated by Pentland, reuniting lefts with rights and sorting into men’s, women’s and children’s boxes. A third team, singing along to the soundtrack from ‘Frozen’, repackaged a donation from Disney of bracelets and charms.
Results
All in all, we were able to pick, sort and repackage over 20,000 items, and had the invaluable opportunity to shadow our wonderful warehouse team and follow the end-end processes from receiving donations from the back of trucks through to seeing items being picked and boxes containing your orders leaving with our courier firm.
Feedback
More so than ever, it has delighted us to see you ordering all the items we worked on from the catalogue. We just hope you overlook the sloppiness of the packaging tape on some of the internal boxes, those tape dispenser guns are hard to master!
Latest Posts
View allSt Andrews Youth Club is a community-based youth club and registered charity that has been enriching young lives for more than 150 years. Supporting over 500 members each year, the club provides a sense of belonging, fun and informal education, helping young people build self-confidence, develop respect for others and grow into active, positive members of their communities.
Read moreWith a new Prime Minister and a new Government agenda, we explore what the early policy priorities could mean for tackling hygiene poverty. From cost-of-living measures to a renewed focus on devolution and local decision-making, find out how we think these changes may shape the landscape for our network communities across the UK.
Read more2025 has been a year of significant progress for In Kind Direct, both in the scale of our impact and in how we are shaping our future. The numbers speak for themselves: together with our partners, we supported more people than ever before, reaching 930,000 people each week through our network of over 9,000 charitable organisations.
Read more