*** Please note our Netley Marsh workshop is now closed to tool donations until Monday 3rd February 2025. ***
Please bring your hand tools, electrical tools, sewing machines, haberdashery items and ply wood to our Netley Marsh workshops at SO40 7GY. We are open for donations on Mondays and Tuesdays , between 10am – 4pm.
Please take a look at the lists below to see what tools we can accept.
If you are making a special trip, or travelling a long distance, please give us a call first on 02380 869697 to make sure we’re ready to help.
We also have a network of volunteer collectors across the country who can collect donations.
You don’t have to live in the Southampton area to donate your preloved tools! We have a network of volunteers around the UK who act as collection points for donated workshop tools and sewing machines. Collectors pass donated items to us directly, or make them available to our regional refurbishing groups, who pass them on to us in turn.
To find a volunteer collector or a refurbishing group in your area, please call us on 02380 869697 and we will put you in touch with your nearest contacts.
We send tools to Africa in response to specific requests from our project partners in our destination countries. Our partners tell us what types of tools they need, and the trades which are in demand. So we only need certain types of tools, such as those which are suitable for carpentry, electrical repair, bricklaying and mechanics.
The tools we send overseas will be used to help people earn a living, so they need to be good quality and in good working order.
Please take a look at our guides below for details of all the items we can use.
Any good quality hand tools (NB tools must be metric or with both metric and imperial measurements) or trade quality 240v electric tools for:
We are really short of old leatherworking tools like lasting pliers, leather knives and leather punches. We are also very short of welding clamps and piston ring compressors. Generally, older hand tools such as sharpen-able saws, planes, screwdrivers, socket sets (metric), spanners (metric), bench vices, engineers vices, hacksaws, etc, can all be put to good use. Particularly larger planes such as Stanley & Record No. 7 & 8 jointer planes are somewhat rare.
We can accept any of the following power tools:
Please download our guide to other brand specific power tools that we can and cannot accept. Power Tools Guidelines
We can accept any Singer manual sewing machines – including those housed within treadle base assemblies.
If they have had electric motors added this is still acceptable.
We take any model from the following manufacturers only:
Bernina
Brother
Elna
Frister & Rossmann
Janome
Jones
New Home
Novum
Pfaff
Singer
Toyota
Sewing machines need to be in working order. Please be careful when checking your machine – just because it works does not mean it is safe to use.
Zig-Zag/Straight Stitch – We send Zig-Zag machines to Africa, however will take Straight Stitch machines as we can use these for spare parts or to sell if possible to raise funds for the charity.
Foot pedals – Wherever possible, please make sure foot pedals are secured to their machines (e.g. using cable ties) as they can become separated and lost in transit. It can be difficult to find a replacement foot pedal with the appropriate plug that matches the machine.
Haberdashery kits are sent to participants in the vocational training projects we fund and equip in Africa. The kits are sent alongside electric and hand sewing machines and fabric.
Materials are available in Africa so these haberdashery kits are intended as a start-up kit for each trainee, helping them to earn money once they graduate, to then purchase more materials as needed.
Listed below are the items we are most in need of to make our haberdashery kits.
We are also pleased to receive new / unused fabric as follows:
We are not able to accept
When we ship our tools out to Africa, we create specific trade packs that are put into wooden boxes which are built at our workshop at Netley Marsh. Without the wood, we can’t make the boxes and at this current time, we are in very short supply of timber.
If you are able to find wood/timber, whether that be new or used that can be donated to Tools For Self Reliance, it would be greatly appreciated. Below, we have listed timber that we use to create the boxes, as well as wood that we cannot accept. If you have any queries regarding what we can/cannot accept, please do give us a call on 02380 869697.
Sheet Materials
NB: We cannot accept used shuttering ply as the concrete residue will damage our table saw.
General Timber
Anything relatively nail free which we can cut down to form 25mm x 30mm battens, such as:
NB: We cannot use pallets, heavily nailed timbers or wood containing woodworm.
We are sometimes donated tools, sewing machines and other items which haven’t been requested, or which are in some way unsuitable or surplus to requirements. We may then:
Any funds that are generated from the sale of tools go towards supporting our work in Africa. Please ask for details.
