They say no
Refused by all 4 charities that directly name or broadly cover it (4 direct).
Why shops refuse it
Rubber perishes with age and a burst bottle can scald — there's no way to date or test a used one.
What to do instead
Rubber ones can go to some specialist recycling; the covers are ordinary textile recycling.
Charity by charity
-
Can't accept
Cancer Research UK
New items can be sold.
Their wording
“Used Hot water bottles”
-
Can't accept
DEBRA
Their wording
“Hot water bottles”
-
Can't accept
Sue Ryder
Their wording
“hot water bottles”
-
Can't accept
Wales Air Ambulance
Their wording
“Hot water bottles”
Not mentioned in 40 charities' guidance
Absence from a charity's list doesn't mean they accept it — it just isn't singled out. Ask your local shop.
- Not mentioned Acorns Children's Hospice
- Not mentioned Age UK
- Not mentioned Barnardo's
- Not mentioned British Heart Foundation
- Not mentioned British Red Cross
- Not mentioned Claire House Children's Hospice
- Not mentioned Cornwall Hospice Care
- Not mentioned Crisis
- Not mentioned Dogs Trust
- Not mentioned Dorothy House
- Not mentioned Emmaus
- Not mentioned FARA Charity Shops
- Not mentioned Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
- Not mentioned Keech Hospice Care
- Not mentioned LOROS Hospice
- Not mentioned Marie Curie
- Not mentioned Octavia Foundation
- Not mentioned Overgate Hospice
- Not mentioned Oxfam
- Not mentioned PDSA
- Not mentioned Phyllis Tuckwell
- Not mentioned Princess Alice Hospice
- Not mentioned Salvation Army (SATCoL)
- Not mentioned Samaritans
- Not mentioned Save the Children
- Not mentioned Scope
- Not mentioned Sense Scotland
- Not mentioned Shaw Trust
- Not mentioned Shelter
- Not mentioned St Barnabas Hospice (Lincolnshire)
- Not mentioned St Christopher's Hospice
- Not mentioned St Giles Hospice
- Not mentioned St Peter's Hospice
- Not mentioned St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
- Not mentioned The Children's Trust
- Not mentioned Traid
- Not mentioned Trinity Hospice (Blackpool)
- Not mentioned Willen Hospice
- Not mentioned Woodgreen Pets Charity
- Not mentioned YMCA (England & Wales)