A few months ago, I asked some friends of friends to test me with some problem items they no longer needed. First up: the highchair.

It was in an average used condition, and no longer needed. They’d been wondering what they could do with it. (I thought this would be easy, but it turns out I was wrong!)

First I called their local baby bank, whose storage was full. They suggested I call the local hospice, who collect furniture to resell. Unfortunately the hospice don’t accept children’s furniture for safety reasons. This was the case with multiple charities that I contacted after that. After many hours calling and researching, the choices filtered down to:

👉 List on eBay or Facebook marketplace for between £20-40 and wait for someone to buy and collect it.
👉 List on Gumtree / Freegle / Nextdoor / Young Planet for a member of the community to collect it.
👉 Take it to the local @faracharityshops (I called and confirmed they would take it).
👉 Take it to the local recycling centre.

Fara stood out as the best option to me. The shop is within walking distance of my friends’ home. The shop is dedicated to selling things just for kids – which makes it easier for shoppers to know to go there for quality, used children’s goods. This means that the item is more likely to sell, and it’s less likely to end up in landfill. Plus, the money Fara raises goes to a good cause. Lastly, and importantly, the highchair could be donated immediately.

It shouldn’t take this long to work out what to do with your old items – which is why I’m setting up my new platform, to take the time and effort out of the decision making!