Our Back to School Backpack Donation to Switch Up in Nottingham
With the six-week summer holidays coming to an end and classrooms opening up again across Nottinghamshire, the team at Lindleys Autocentres has dropped off a back to school backpack donation at Switch Up, our long-standing charity partner here in Nottingham.
We delivered a batch of brand new backpacks to the Switch Up team at their gym, ready to be distributed to families in the local community who need a helping hand before term starts.
What We Donated
The bags were handed over at the Switch Up base, home of the Nottingham School of Boxing, where the charity runs its mentoring and training programmes.
We deliberately kept the selection varied so there’s something for children of different ages and tastes, including:
- Peppa Pig, Frozen, Stitch and Bluey backpacks for younger children.
- Plain black backpacks that suit older children heading to secondary school.
- Matching lunch bags where available.
Switch Up will now pass the bags on directly to the families they work with, so they reach the children who will get the most out of them.
Why the Back to School Backpack Donation Matters
The start of a new school year is expensive. Uniform, shoes, PE kit, stationery and bags all land at once, and for families already stretched, a new backpack can quietly slip down the list.
A decent bag sounds like a small thing. In practice it’s the difference between a child walking through the school gates on day one feeling ready, and feeling like they’re already behind. That’s exactly the kind of gap Switch Up works to close, alongside its mentoring, boxing and employability programmes for young people in Nottingham.
Partners With Switch Up Since 2018
We’ve supported Switch Up since 2018, and it’s a partnership we’re genuinely proud of. Over the years that’s included fundraising challenges such as running the London Marathon to raise money for Switch Up, as well as practical donations like this one.
Switch Up uses boxing and mentoring to steer young people in Nottingham away from crime and towards education, training and work. As a family-run business with branches across Nottinghamshire, supporting an organisation doing that work on our own doorstep has always felt like the right thing to do.
It sits alongside the other community work our teams get involved in, from our Christmas food bank collection to donations to Nottingham Children’s Hospital.
Thank You
A big thank you to the Switch Up team for the welcome, and for everything they do for young people in the city all year round. Thanks also to our own staff who helped pull the donation together.
If you’d like to find out more about Switch Up or support their work directly, take a look at what they do at switch-up.co.uk. And if you’re a Lindleys customer who has ever wondered where some of our community efforts go, this is one of them.
We’ll keep sharing our charity work here on the Lindleys blog as the year goes on. In the meantime, thank you for continuing to support a local, family-run business, it’s what makes donations like this possible.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Switch Up?
Switch Up is a Nottingham-based charity that uses boxing, mentoring and employability support to help young people move away from crime and into education, training and work. It’s based at the Nottingham School of Boxing gym.
How long has Lindleys supported Switch Up?
We’ve been supporting Switch Up since 2018, through fundraising challenges such as the London Marathon as well as practical donations like this back to school backpack donation.
Who receives the donated backpacks?
Switch Up distributes the backpacks directly to families in the local community who need extra support ahead of the new school term.
Can I donate to Switch Up too?
Yes. Switch Up welcomes support from individuals and local businesses, and you can find details of how to help on their own website at switch-up.co.uk.
