We officially opened our new Donations Centre in Pembury, near Tunbridge Wells this week (14th August). The new facility will serve as a hub for contributions from the community, furthering our mission to enhance the lives of autistic individuals and those with a learning disability, and their families.

We celebrated with an opening ceremony, including a ribbon-cutting by our charity’s patron Camellia Taylor, the award-winning garden designer. Our staff, supporters and members of the community attended and had the opportunity to view the new facility and learn more about our work. 

The new Donations Centre, located at our site at Cornford Lane, Pembury, will provide a convenient drop-off point for donations of clothing, toys, books, household items, and other goods, which will be sold in our charity shops and ebay store. Proceeds from these sales will fund projects and services that empower the people we support to lead more independent and fulfilling lives.

"We are incredibly excited to open this new Donations Centre in Pembury," said Robbie Shanahan, CEO of Aspens. "The generosity of our community is essential to our work, and this new facility will make it easier than ever for people to support our cause. Every donation, no matter how small, will make a difference in the lives of the individuals and families we serve."

Law firm, Cripps, has pledged their support for the initiative and Liz Carter, Joanna Ford and Rosie Harvey from the organisation joined us for the opening, dropping off items generously donated by their colleagues.

Liz Carter, Senior Impact Manager at Cripps, said “Donating pre-loved items at Aspens’ Donation Centre is an easy and useful way for us all to support the Charity. We set up collection points in our Tunbridge Wells office and our people brought in items that we hope will fly off the shelves at Aspens’ shops. Our action is also reducing waste and promoting sustainability which is key to our commitment as a certified B Corporation™.”

We welcome similar initiatives from other local businesses. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to find out more about this. 

Those dropping off donations can enjoy other attractions at the Aspens’ site, which include the Bluebell Café, animal farm, playground and beautiful grounds.

Aspens’ charity shops are located in Bexhill, Crowborough, Paddock Wood and Seaford and we also have an ebay store. 

Aspens Donations Centre: Aspens, Cornford Lane, Pembury TN2 4QU

Opening hours: Monday-Thursday 9.00 am – 4.00 pm

There will be a member of staff at the Centre to greet visitors and parking is available.

Find out more about the Donations Centre here.