All items · Electrical
Mobile phones
Also covers: mobile phone, smartphone, smart phone, old phone, cellphone, telephone
Can you donate mobile phones to a UK charity shop? It depends.
Before donating
Some charities resell phones and others collect them for recycling. Acceptance of a phone does not automatically mean a charity accepts desktop computers, hard drives or every data-holding device.
Prepare it like this
Back up anything needed, sign out, remove the SIM and memory card, disable activation locks and perform a factory reset. Charge the phone before donating and include its cable if you own it.
Charity by charity
36 mentions-
Can't accept
Ardgowan Hospice category-wide rule
Whole "electrical items" category listed as currently not accepted.
Their wording
“Currently we CANNOT accept: -Toys, large furniture or electrical items.”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Mobile phones”
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Can't accept
Claire House Children's Hospice category-wide rule
Blanket exclusion of electrical items, though brand-new factory-sealed hard drives, SD cards or USB sticks are excepted.
Their wording
“Electrical items”
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Can't accept
Cransley Hospice Trust category-wide rule
Listed under 'Unfortunately, we are unable to accept some items' ('Electrical items, Kitchen equipment and utensils, Used baby equipment including car seats and prams/pushchairs, Bikes') with no exceptions stated.
Their wording
“Electrical items”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Mobile phones (even if working)”
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Can't accept
Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland category-wide rule
Applies to all electrical items
Their wording
“Electrical and medical items”
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Can't accept
Katharine House Hospice, Banbury category-wide rule
Listed under 'Unfortunately, we're unable to accept' on the shop donations page.
Their wording
“Electrical items or any furniture.”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Computer equipment, ink cartridges, video tapes or cassette tapes, DVDs and mobile phones.”
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Can't accept
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.”
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Can't accept
St John's Hospice (London) category-wide rule
Applies to all electrical items
Their wording
“Electrical items”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Tablets, phones, and other devices”
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Can't accept
St Raphael's Hospice category-wide rule
Stated on the Our Shops page for shop/Donation Centre drop-off. The separate Furniture Collections page still refers to collecting 'large items of furniture or electrical items' via its home-collection service, so this blanket refusal may be specific to walk-in shop donations rather than the large-item collection route.
Their wording
“We are no longer accepting any electrical items or pet toys, sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
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Can't accept
Their wording
“Computer equipment, ink cartridges, video and cassette tapes, mobile phones”
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Check first
Accepted depending on condition.
Their wording
“Some items, such as bicycles, sofas etc that have fire safety labels and mobile phones, may also be accepted depending on their condition.”
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Check first
Only new phones and tablets are accepted; used ones are refused.
Their wording
“Used Mobile phones, PCs, laptops or tablets (new items can be sold)”
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Check first
Only used mobile phones and tablets are refused; new ones are not addressed.
Their wording
“Used mobile phones, PCs, Laptops, or tablets”
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Check first
Save the Children category-wide rule
Exception: accepted at selected stores — donors are told to check first.
Their wording
“We're unable to accept electrical goods (except in selected stores - please check first)”
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Check first
St Mary's Hospice category-wide rule
Listed as a standalone bullet within the 'Electrical Items' section of the main donation guidance page — electrical items without a CE mark are implied to be refused.
Their wording
“Must have CE mark”
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Check first
Only used mobile phones and tablets are refused.
Their wording
“Used mobile phones, PCs, laptops and tablets”
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Check first
Condition: good working order, unlocked with no lock code.
Their wording
“Good working order with no visible damage. Needs to be unlocked and reset with no lock code. Include original box and accessories where possible.”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Technology including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and camera”
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Accepted
Their wording
“phones, tablets, PCs and laptops”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Foreign coins and old mobile phones”
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Accepted
Collected specifically for recycling.
Their wording
“We want you to dig out your old mobile phones, ink cartridges and other unwanted items and drop them off at Derian!”
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Accepted
Their wording
“pre-loved computers, laptops, desktops, phone and tablets”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Mobile phones and gadgets such as MP3 players, Sat Navs, digital cameras and hand-held consoles”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Mobile phones, tablets and cameras”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Foreign coins, stamps, old mobile phones and toner cartridges”
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Accepted
Their wording
“mobile phones and used printer cartridges”
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Accepted
An exception to their general no-electricals rule.
Their wording
“Old mobile phones and tablets”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Foreign coins, stamps, old mobile phones”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Mobile phones – to recycle”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Any make, model, age and condition of mobile phone.”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Mobile phones and used printer cartridges.”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Bric-a-brac, books, games, ornaments, CDs, vinyl, mobile phones.”
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Accepted
Their wording
“Mobile phones”
Not mentioned in 117 charities' guidance
Absence from a charity's list doesn't mean they accept it — it just isn't singled out. Ask your local shop.
- Acorns Children's Hospice
- Age UK
- Ashgate Hospicecare
- Ayrshire Hospice
- Barnsley Hospice
- Bolton Hospice
- British Red Cross
- Butterwick Hospice
- Children's Hospice South West
- Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS)
- Cornwall Hospice Care
- Crisis
- DEBRA
- Demelza Hospice Care for Children
- Dogs Trust
- Dorothy House
- Douglas Macmillan Hospice
- Dr Kershaw's Hospice
- East Lancashire Hospice
- Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw, Cumbria's Children's Hospice
- Ellenor
- FARA Charity Shops
- Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity
- Forget Me Not Children's Hospice
- Garden House Hospice Care
- Great Oaks Hospice
- Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
- Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice
- Helen & Douglas House
- Hospice in the Weald
- Hospice Isle of Man
- Hospice of the Good Shepherd
- Hospice of the Valleys
- Jersey Hospice Care
- Julia's House
- Katharine House Hospice (Stafford)
- Keech Hospice Care
- KEMP Hospice
- Lindsey Lodge Hospice
- Longfield Community Hospice
- LOROS Hospice
- Marie Curie
- Mountbatten Isle of Wight
- Moya Cole Hospice
- Nightingale House Hospice
- North Devon Hospice
- North London Hospice
- Nottinghamshire Hospice
- Octavia Foundation
- Overgate Hospice
- Oxfam
- PDSA
- Pendleside Hospice
- Pilgrims Hospices
- Primrose Hospice
- Princess Alice Hospice
- Prospect Hospice
- Queenscourt Hospice
- Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People
- Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care
- Rotherham Hospice
- Rowans Hospice
- Royal Trinity Hospice (London)
- Saint Francis Hospice
- Salvation Army (SATCoL)
- Samaritans
- Scope
- Sense Scotland
- Severn Hospice
- Shaw Trust
- Shelter
- Shooting Star Children's Hospices
- Southern Hospice Group
- Springhill Hospice
- St Andrew's Hospice (Lanarkshire)
- St Catherine's Hospice (Crawley)
- St Catherine's Hospice (Lancashire)
- St Clare 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 Luke's Cheshire Hospice
- St Luke's Hospice (Harrow & Brent)
- St Luke's Hospice Basildon & Thurrock
- St Margaret's Hospice Care (Somerset)
- St Michael's Hospice (North Hampshire)
- St Nicholas Hospice Care
- St Oswald's Hospice
- St Peter & St James Hospice
- St Peter's Hospice
- St Richard's Hospice
- St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
- St Vincent's Hospice
- Sue Ryder
- 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)
- Tynedale Hospice at Home
- Wakefield Hospice
- Wales Air Ambulance
- Weldmar Hospicecare
- Willen Hospice
- Willow Burn Hospice
- Willowbrook Hospice
- Wirral Hospice St John's
- Woking & Sam Beare Hospices
- Woodgreen Pets Charity
- YMCA (England & Wales)