All items · Food & drink
Alcohol
Also covers: wine, spirits, beer, cider, port, whisky, whiskey, gin, rum, vodka, sherry, liqueur
Can you donate alcohol to a UK charity shop? Usually not.
The short answer
Almost all say no
Of the 153 UK charities we track, 27 say no and 1 may accept in some cases. 5 of those are category-wide rules rather than a direct mention.
Evidence last verified
Why shops may refuse it
Selling alcohol needs a licence charity shops don't hold.
What to do instead
Sealed bottles are often welcome as raffle and tombola prizes — ask the shop or a local fundraiser.
Charity by charity
28 mentions-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcoholic Drinks”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Source does not split 'drink' into alcoholic/non-alcoholic.
Their wording
“Perishable goods, food or drink”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Consumables, food, alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Farleigh Hospice category-wide rule
Listed under 'Non-electrical items we cannot accept'.
Their wording
“Food and drink”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Listed as a single unqualified 'Food or drink' entry, so read here as covering alcoholic drinks too.
Their wording
“Food or drink”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Food or drink, toxic or hazardous substances such as cleaning products, tobacco and alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol items”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Consumables including alcohol, cigarettes, drugs or foodstuffs”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol (legal reasons and undesirability).”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“branded alcoholic products”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Food or alcohol”
-
Can't accept
Shown when searching 'Alcoholic Beverage'.
Their wording
“Thank you for thinking of us. Unfortunately, we’re unable to accept this item because of legal restrictions. Some things need special licences or checks that we’re not able to have in place.”
-
Can't accept
Southern Hospice Group category-wide rule
Listed under 'Misc items we cannot sell'; no food or drink items are listed as accepted anywhere on the group's sites.
Their wording
“Perishable goods, food and drink”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcoholic drinks”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Alcohol, tobacco and medicines”
-
Can't accept
St Clare Hospice category-wide rule
Blanket refusal covering the whole Food & drink category.
Their wording
“Food or drink”
-
Can't accept
Their wording
“Perishable goods, food, and drink (including alcohol)”
-
Can't accept
St Oswald's Hospice category-wide rule
Blanket refusal of perishable food and drink items.
Their wording
“Perishable goods, food and drink”
- Can't accept
-
Can't accept
Tynedale Hospice at Home category-wide rule
Broad statement in the "do not accept" list, covering food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, even sealed items.
Their wording
“Food and drinks (even if unopened)”
-
Check first
As a new, unopened donation for use as a raffle prize (per the page's introduction: 'these should be new and unopened').
Their wording
“Bottles – Wine, beer, spirits, soft drinks, etc.”
Not mentioned in 125 charities' guidance
Absence from a charity's list doesn't mean they accept it — it just isn't singled out. Ask your local shop.
- Accord Hospice
- Acorns Children's Hospice
- Age UK
- Ardgowan Hospice
- Ashgate Hospicecare
- Ayrshire Hospice
- Barnardo's
- Barnsley Hospice
- Blythe House Hospice
- Bolton Hospice
- British Heart Foundation
- Butterwick Hospice
- Cancer Research UK
- Children's Hospice South West
- Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS)
- Claire House Children's Hospice
- Cornwall Hospice Care
- Cransley Hospice Trust
- Crisis
- Derian House Children's Hospice
- Dogs Trust
- Douglas Macmillan Hospice
- East Lancashire Hospice
- Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw, Cumbria's Children's Hospice
- Emmaus
- FARA Charity Shops
- Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity
- Garden House Hospice Care
- Great Oaks Hospice
- Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
- Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice
- Heart of Kent Hospice
- Helen & Douglas House
- Hope House & Ty Gobaith Children's Hospices
- Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland
- Hospice in the Weald
- Hospice Isle of Man
- Hospice of the Good Shepherd
- Hospice of the Valleys
- Katharine House Hospice (Stafford)
- Katharine House Hospice, Banbury
- Keech Hospice Care
- Lewis-Manning Hospice Care
- Lindsey Lodge Hospice
- Longfield Community Hospice
- LOROS Hospice
- Marie Curie
- Martin House Children's Hospice
- Moya Cole Hospice
- Naomi House & Jack's Place
- Nightingale House Hospice
- North Devon Hospice
- North London Hospice
- Nottinghamshire Hospice
- Octavia Foundation
- Overgate Hospice
- Oxfam
- PDSA
- Pendleside Hospice
- Phyllis Tuckwell
- Pilgrims Hospices
- Primrose Hospice
- Princess Alice Hospice
- Prospect Hospice
- Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People
- Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care
- Rotherham Hospice
- Royal Trinity Hospice (London)
- Saint Francis Hospice
- Samaritans
- Scope
- Sense Scotland
- Severn Hospice
- Shaw Trust
- Shelter
- Springhill Hospice
- St Andrew's Hospice (Lanarkshire)
- St Catherine's Hospice (Lancashire)
- St Christopher's Hospice
- St Columba's Hospice
- St Cuthbert's Hospice
- St David's Hospice Care
- St Giles Hospice
- St Helena Hospice
- St John's Hospice (Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal & Garstang)
- St John's Hospice (London)
- St Luke's Cheshire Hospice
- St Luke's Hospice (Harrow & Brent)
- St Luke's Hospice Basildon & Thurrock
- St Luke's Hospice Plymouth
- St Margaret's Hospice Care (Somerset)
- St Mary's Hospice
- St Michael's Hospice (North Hampshire)
- St Nicholas Hospice Care
- St Peter & St James Hospice
- St Peter's Hospice
- St Raphael's Hospice
- St Richard's Hospice
- St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
- St Vincent's Hospice
- St Wilfrid's Hospice
- Strathcarron Hospice
- Thames Hospice
- The Children's Trust
- The Kirkwood
- The Myton Hospices
- The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice
- The Prince of Wales Hospice
- The Shakespeare Hospice
- Traid
- Treetops Hospice Trust
- Trinity Hospice (Blackpool)
- Wakefield Hospice
- Wales Air Ambulance
- Weldmar Hospicecare
- Wigan and Leigh Hospice
- Willen Hospice
- Willow Burn Hospice
- Willow Wood Hospice
- Willowbrook Hospice
- Wirral Hospice St John's
- Wisdom Hospice
- Woking & Sam Beare Hospices
- Woodgreen Pets Charity
- YMCA (England & Wales)