Palmerston North Red Cross Curtain Bank calling for curtain donations

The Red Cross Curtain Bank in Palmerston North.

The Palmerston North Curtain Bank is accepting curtain donations to continue helping to keep local families homes warm and insulated.

Red Cross' curtain bank has been running the successful voluntary service since 2013.

The busy workers are all volunteers, and some are refugees who have made the city their home.

Curtains are donated by the community and occasionally by motels when they refurbish their guest rooms.

Volunteer Dianne Nicholson explains that they accept donations of curtains that are still good to be used.

"We do not accept mouldy or dirty curtains."

The curtain bank is a free service for clients in need.

The organisation has a general criterion that you need either a community services card or a superannuitant gold card.

However, the volunteers use their discretion if clients are in a particular situation that leaves them in need of curtains.

Nicholson said there have been some cases of property owners not providing their lower socio-economic tenants with quality curtains, or refusing to replace them.

"We are not hard and fast but we are a free service that cannot be taken advantage of.

"We don't usually have to turn people away," Nicholson says.

The voluntary team try to match curtains to areas for aesthetic appropriateness.

"Clients cannot tell us what they want.

"What comes out of here are lined or very thick curtains to keep homes warm and insulated."

To prepare for the winter rush of requests, the curtain bank advertises at the start of the year by putting notices around schools and through word-of-mouth.

Last year they made 180 curtains, with the months of April, May, June and July being "busier than beyond belief".

The curtain bank is open on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am till 2pm, at 24B Domain St.