When your car goes on its final journey to the scrapyard, the benefit to charity could be only just beginning – Car Donation Network turns old cars into funds to help people in need.

If you have been tempted by the shiny new 13-reg models in your local dealership and you are too short of time to clean out your old car and prepare it for part-exchange or private sale, you might be considering scrapping it. Choosing Car Donation Network instead of a traditional scrap dealer will ensure that charities benefit from the proceeds of your vehicle, whether it is repaired and resold or broken up for parts.

You may not have had the chance to donate to Comic Relief, but care about the plight of children in Africa who are lacking food and education. If so, donating your old car to African Children’s Fund will ensure that children are given nutritious porridge at school, and that they can attend lessons in suitable buildings. Established in 2006, the charity works in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe to provide children with opportunities.

Another charity we work with is Epilepsy Scotland, which was established 59 years ago to promote the rights of people with epilepsy. It works to eliminate discrimination against people with epilepsy, and ensure that they have the services they need in order to live a full life. They provide support to people in addition to promoting awareness through campaigning, and donating your old car to them will help to enable them to continue their important work.

Many people will have been affected by the loss of a family member or friend to terminal illness, and in such circumstances, people often spend their last days or weeks in a hospice. Donating your car to Bolton Hospice will help to sustain this charitable organisation, which provides palliative care to adults with incurable illnesses and helps them to maintain their quality of life until their final moments.

Central to Car Donation Network’s operations is the Recycling Lives social welfare charity, which is operated by the Recycling Lives social business. This charity helps homeless and unemployed individuals to find accommodation and work, and supports them with a holistic programme to ensure they gain qualifications and receive advice on how to manage debts. With Recycling Lives, people who have experienced severe hardship can work their way to independence with the best possible guidance.

Our customer-friendly, convenient scheme supports a range of charities that work to find solutions to problems, and improve people’s lives, both at home and abroad. If you are thinking of sending your old car to the scrapyard, now is the time to book a collection with Car Donation Network!

If you need to get rid of an accident-damaged or burnt out car, you may be unsure how to go about it. But there is a great way that’s good for the environment and charity!

Car Crash

Being a motorist has its ups and downs. On a day with good visibility, a country lane can provide a pleasant driving experience with excellent opportunities to enjoy the scenery; on a cold, foggy day, driving can be rather miserable, with little time for enjoyment because of the extra attention the driver needs to pay to everything around them.

Perhaps the worst experience of being a driver is what happens when your car is put out of action. Maybe this results from someone driving too fast on a country lane because they are too busy enjoying themselves to notice your car; accidents are perhaps more expected in foggy conditions because people often fail to leave adequate stopping distance. There is also the possibility of your car being burnt out, either because of a fault or a deliberate, malicious act.

Whatever the reason, when your car is unable to be driven, it really throws everything up in the air. You have to factor in the walk to the nearest bus stop or train station so you’re not late for work. You suddenly realise just how crowded and uncomfortable the train is, and how noisy the bus can be when the schools finish for the day! You long for the weekend, when you can go and search for a new car. But what do you do with the accident-damaged wreck that was towed back to your driveway, or the burnt out shell that you see every time you open the living room curtains?

For an environmentally sound and charitable way to dispose of your mangled motor, choose Car Donation Network. It’s quick and simple to book a collection using the user-friendly online form, and collectors will come to your home to take the car at a time that’s convenient for you. We take old vehicles in any condition, whether they have been rear-ended, crushed by a tree, or completely burnt beyond recognition. All you have to do is make sure the car is easily accessible, and have the Form V5 (log book) ready for the collectors if you have it.

Using Car Donation Network is good for the environment because we will salvage whatever parts we can from the vehicle so they can be sold for reuse. Whatever is left will be sold to an authorised treatment facility, so everything is diverted from landfill. When you choose Car Donation Network, you can feel assured that you are doing your bit for the planet!

The charitable part of Car Donation Network’s operations starts as soon as you fill in the form to book a collection. You can choose which charity you want to benefit from the proceeds of the sales of parts and scrap from your car, and it doesn’t stop there.

Car Donation Network is a Community Dotcom scheme run by the Recycling Lives social business, and using our service helps their social welfare charity, which provides support, accommodation and employment to homeless people. Much of the processing work in the scrapyard is carried out by the people who are rebuilding their lives with help from Recycling Lives. This is perhaps the best of the many benefits of choosing Car Donation Network.

We know how miserable it can be when you have an accident or your car is fire-damaged. But you can turn that misery into something good for society. Choose Car Donation Network today!

When businesses have to get rid of a commercial van or two – or more, as the case may be – then they need an efficient service. Car Donation Network provides that, and more!

Companies need vans. Every day on the road, vans of different sizes, bearing a range of company logos and decals, can be seen. They belong to a range of organisations, from small operations to large multi-nationals, and carry a range of equipment from electricians’ tools to heavy machinery. Some can even be hired from vehicle rental firms to perform functions such as moving house.

Whatever a van is used for, it is a fair bet that it will cover a lot of mileage and experience a large degree of wear and tear. All the zipping about between clients, even if each trip itself is only a few miles, certainly adds up. Then there are all the scratches and dents that vans accumulate from stone chips flying off the road, grit and debris on building sites, and knocks from equipment when loading.

In short, a van is a workhorse, and even when serviced regularly and treated with kid gloves, it will eventually deteriorate. Granted, it will be able to cope with more miles on its clock than the average car, but those miles will accumulate quickly. One day, when it is shabby and worn, it will edge ever closer to its final journey. Beyond useful repair and costing a lot to the company, it simply has to go. But where?

If it’s time to get rid of an old van, or a fleet of old vans, choose Car Donation Network. We offer a convenient, charitable and environmentally friendly way for you to get rid of your old commercial vehicles, enabling you to make way for the new ones.

We know that transport managers in businesses of all sizes are always pressed for time, so rest assured that it is extremely quick and simple to book a collection using our online form. Once that has been done, someone – or a team of people – will be sent to your yard, warehouse or office to collect the vehicles you no longer require.

When they go, whether they are driven away or put on the back of a truck, the vans will be dealt with so as to cause the minimum harm to the environment. If there is some life left in a van, it will be repaired and sold on to someone. If it needs to be scrapped, it will be stripped for parts, with all the bits left over being processed to avoid landfill.

Best of all, using Car Donation Network is charitable. Vehicles are collected on behalf of a range of different charity partners, and you can even choose which charity you want to benefit from your old vans. They will receive the proceeds from the sales of parts or scrap, or the vehicle itself, if it is sold on to someone for further use.

Donating in this way also helps your company with its Corporate Social Responsibility, since Car Donation Network is a Community Dotcom scheme run by the Recycling Lives social business. In everything it does, it strives to add social value; it provides training and employment opportunities in the local area, and works in partnership with local people and businesses to improve the community.

Central to its operations is its social welfare charity, which helps homeless and unemployed people to find work and accommodation as part of a holistic support plan. Using Car Donation Network directly contributes to its vital work.

So if you are a transport manager or managing director of a company and you need to dispose of commercial vehicles, choose Car Donation Network!

When your car is no longer fit to drive, you need to do something about it. This usually means getting a new one. But what do you do with your old, unroadworthy vehicle?

It probably crept up on you over a period of time. When you bought the vehicle, it was running just fine. It even had a good few months left on its MoT, and passed the next one. If you were surprised about that, then you were even more surprised that it soldiered on with a few minor repairs as and when needed.

A few years later, somehow, little things have added up to make the car a big problem. The hole in the exhaust pipe, for example. The seatbelt that doesn’t work. The cracked windscreen that you keep meaning to get fixed. Oh, and the oil that is starting to make a nice, black stain on the drive.

In fact, every week or so, something needs fixing or replacing. The car breaks down sometimes. You don’t like the squeaky sound of the brakes, and the tyres are looking a bit bald and cracked. You certainly don’t want to have to get a new cylinder head, either, even though the increased smoke from the exhaust is causing you further embarrassment.

At this stage, it has probably occurred to you that you are driving an unroadworthy car. Yes, it may have an MoT for a few more weeks, but that won’t mean anything if a traffic cop notices your faulty headlights or brake lights and pulls you over.

Driving an unroadworthy car is dangerous, not just to the driver, but to other road users and pedestrians. The car’s faults could cause a serious accident.

The best course of action under these circumstances is to buy a new car. It will work out cheaper in the long run, because you will not need to spend anywhere near as much money keeping a car in better condition on the road. If you keep your old one running, it will cost a lot of money; it will also mean spending several hours down at the garage.

When you get your new car, your old one will not be suitable to sell privately, and you are unlikely to get much money for it in part exchange. So instead of trading it in, why not give it to charity? Car Donation Network will be happy to take it off your hands and use it to help a good cause boost their funds.

It’s easy for you to arrange, too. Simply book a collection using the online form, and someone will be dispatched to your door to pick up the vehicle.

It doesn’t have to be driveable; it just needs to be accessible. If the engine’s seized and the body is on the brink of falling to bits, don’t worry! As long as we can get it on the truck, everything’s fine.

If you have the Form V5 (log book), hand this to the collection team, too. Once the vehicle and documentation is in their possession, they will take your car away.

When the car is taken away, it will be broken up for parts. Anything that can be used again will be sold on, and whatever is left over will be sold for scrap and processed in an environmentally friendly way at an authorised treatment facility.

This is where the charitable part comes in. All proceeds will go to a charity, and you can even choose a charity when you book the collection!

Another charity will benefit, too: Recycling Lives. This social welfare charity helps homeless people to find work and accommodation. Since Car Donation Network is a Community Dotcom scheme run by the Recycling Lives social business, our work helps to sustain the social welfare charity it operates.

So choose Car Donation Network for a charitable solution to your unroadworthy vehicle problem!

It sounds so simple: Donate your used vehicle or boat to charity, avoid the hassles associated with selling it, and score a tax deduction at the same time. Everybody wins, right?

Not necessarily. As the saying goes, the road to h-e-double-hockey-sticks is paved with good intentions, and it can be surprisingly easy to fumble this well-meaning act.

Before you hand one of your biggest assets over to anyone, read the following tips to be sure you’re making the right moves.

1. Avoid middlemen. Numerous for-profit intermediary organizations advertise aggressively on TV, billboards and elsewhere, offering to help you donate your vehicle to charity. Here’s the catch: These organizations typically keep about 50 percent to 90 percent of the vehicle’s value for themselves, and the charities don’t get what they could have gotten. To prevent this, check directly with charities you admire and find out whether they accept car or boat donations.

2. Find a worthy charity. If the charities you normally support aren’t equipped to accept such donations, do some homework until you find a reputable charity that is. You can research charities’ track records online at this Better Business Bureau site and through Charity Navigator.

3. Check the math. If you still feel compelled to use an intermediary organization – possibly because you’re busy – at least ask the organization how much of the car or boat’s value will go to charity. If the organization simply gives charities flat fees — say, $100 for a used vehicle regardless of its value, or $2,000 a month — your donation may not be eligible for a tax deduction.

4. Know the status of your recipient. In order for you to qualify for a deduction, the charity that gets your donation must be an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. Your church, synagogue, mosque or temple likely qualifies. (Check first just to make sure.) You also can visit the Internal Revenue Service’s Web site and search for Publication 78 to find other qualifying non-profit organizations. (Just type “78” into the search field on the IRS home page and you’ll be directed to the right publication.)

5. Do the delivery yourself. Once you’ve identified a worthy charity, recognize that it will have to pay someone to pick up your car or boat for you. To help the charity maximize the benefit of your donation, drop the car or boat off yourself.

6. Transfer the vehicle with care. Want to eliminate all risk of running up parking tickets and other violations after you’ve said goodbye to your donated vehicle? Then formally re-title the vehicle to the charity, and report the transfer to your state’s department of motor vehicles or licensing. Never agree to leave the ownership space on the charity donation papers blank.

7. Your estimate of the donation’s value probably won’t cut it. If your car or boat is worth more than $500, the IRS is going to want to see evidence of how much the charity got for it. (Most charities that accept these donations turn around and sell them for cash.) You’ll need to get a receipt from the charity revealing exactly how much money it made.

8. Know when you can report the fair market value. You won’t need evidence of the sales price if the charity keeps the vehicle or vessel and uses it in its charitable work, or if your donation is worth less than $500. Then you can report its fair market value based on listings from Kelley Blue Book and similar sources.

9. Keep a thorough paper trail. If your donation is worth more than $500, you’ll have to attach IRS Form 8283 to your tax return. If it’s worth more than $5,000, your documentation must include an outside appraisal. You’ll also need proof of the donation, such as a receipt from the charity and a copy of the title change.

10. Be detail-oriented. This paper trail may seem cumbersome, but think about it: This may be one of the biggest charitable donations you ever make. By taking the time to dot the i’s, you can make sure that the charity gets the most benefit and you get the biggest possible deduction.