Community Stores

The first Brotherhood store was opened in the 1930s on Fitzroy's Gertrude Street, once a neighbourhood of the most vulnerable families and individuals, now a hip fashion district. Its aim then was to recycle large quantities of clothing and furniture for people in need - our cause and purpose remains the same today. 

The Brotherhood now operates 20 stores across Greater Melbourne, and their success relies on the passionate and dedicated team of staff, more than 700 volunteers and the generous donations received for the communities in which we work. 

As well as raising much needed funds for Brotherhood services, our stores help job seekers develop their workplace skills, and provide work experience to a steady stream of students.

1300 DONATE

For the convenience of our supporters, we offer a free donation collection service in Greater Melbourne collecting clothing, books, homewares, furniture and white goods. Supporters can phone 1300 DONATE (1300 366 283) to arrange a collection, or complete a pick up form online. Read more » 

Recycling

Our social enterprises encourage environmental sustainability through recycling - we recycle more than 1,000 tonnes of clothing, homewares, furniture, electrical  appliances and whitegoods each year.

We are always looking for fridge donations from households and businesses. These donations are collected and delivered back to our warehouse - from here there are two options:

• As fridges are the most sought-after items available at our community stores, where possible we try to repair fridges and white goods, sometimes using alternate parts. These goods are then sold through our stores at an affordable price.
• If fridges or white goods received are unable to be repaired the items are recycled for scrap metal and the team remove the harmful CFC gases for which they may receive Victoria Energy Efficient Certificates(VEECs).