What to do with my now grownup daughters dance trophies

Shelflife

If your daughters don't want them - dump them! Sounds harsh , they hold sentimental value I recognise that but they have served their purpose ! They are of no use/ value to anyone else. Photograph them if that helps then dispose of them. Once you have done the deed you will wonder why you didn't do it earlier ! Be brave and just do it.

Yes, bin after asking 'one last time'.

Magenta8

One of my GCs was awarded a medal on a ribbon and a certificate for 'Holding the door open for a teacher who was carrying a box, without being asked.' I'm all for positive re-enforcement but really. At this rate my DCs houses are going be awash with awards by the time the GCs are grown up.

The plastic waste policy obviously missed your grandchildren’s school. 😥

One of my GCs was awarded a medal on a ribbon and a certificate for 'Holding the door open for a teacher who was carrying a box, without being asked.' I'm all for positive re-enforcement but really. At this rate my DCs houses are going be awash with awards by the time the GCs are grown up.

I moved house with bags and boxes of my daughter's keepsakes.

Years later when I decided enough was enough, I asked her what she wanted to do with them one time when she was visiting .... and she said "Oh, I don't want that old junk!"

Now I am older, I wish I had asked my parents about the people in the photo albums I didn't recognise, and I wish I still had my favourite toys to show/pass on to my grandchildren. Similarly, one day, your daughters might want to show their trophies to their children/grandchildren or just keep them as mementos. Couldn't you pack them in a box and just keep them in the loft or something?

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A quick search online will give you a number of upcycle art and craft projects. If nothing else it will amuse the grandchildren for an afternoon.

Maybe put them in storage? They could become part of the heritage of your daughter's children, grandchildren, future generations, etc.

*“Marie Kondo” them, meaning, thank them and let them go.

*The queen of declutterring.

(As frequently quoted by my daughter).

Lesley

But if you never do anything with them, and the suitcases etc remain in the attic, what will happen to them when you die?

Just be extra work for your daughters to then dump.

Better to do it now, yourself.

My elderly neighbour has been in a home for nearly 3 years. His house has just been sold, his son and DIL have had to empty the place with 60 years of stuff and memories.

His son told me that his first primary school uniform was in the loft, along with goodness knows what.

It was a mammoth task, bet they wished it had all been done years ago.

I know what you mean OLLYgr i have the same problem but to a lesser extent, I’ve always been very sentimental and I still have toys, baby clothes, school work, homemade cards and even congratulations cards when they were born and all their firsts.
I also have suitcases full of photos and videos, my daughters are now in their 50s and can’t believe I’m still holding on to all this stuff including their brownie uniforms, they think I’m nuts and should take it to the tip but to me it’s memories of the happiest time of my life we downsized a few years ago and it’s now all in the attic never looked at so I know I should get rid of it all but how can you get rid of their little cards with their first writing on, they are not at all sentimental and would have a fit if I dumped it all on them

Very often organisations don't actually buy the trophies themselves. They are donated by businesses, or even by ex pupils. So in our case, there was the Lloyds Bank trophy for Drama, (because our business account was with them), or the Zurich (Insurance) trophy for Sport. It's a way for businesses to get their name out there, and the cost of a cup is insignificant to them compared with the visibility it buys them.

Buying trophies takes a considerable sum of money for organizations. Could some of these be adaptable for other usage? Ask a local sports or activity league If they could make use of these items.

Box them up, drop them off with your daughter - her choice then.

But would a dance school want old trophies with another dance school's name engraved on them, plus a load of names of winners from the 1970s/80s?

What a brilliant idea 👍

Offer them to a dance school. They can be presented again to young dancers.

M0nica

Put them in boxes, sorted by daughter, and give them to them and insist they dispose of them. That is what we did last year with DD's collection of dolls in national costumes and DS's childhood books.

When we visited AC, we walked in the door holding boxes, put them down in the their halls and left them there.

Nice one Monica, well done.

Just bin them, they are not worth a bean 🤣

Agreed. Have at least two or three backups of the photos on memory sticks, and maybe keep one photo album of your favourites - with labels giving date, place, names. As for the trophies, as others have said, photograph them. In fact I would make a photo album for each child with family photos and photos of the trophies and the child dressed in their dance costumes. You could put a memory stick with all the photos on with each album and leave them somewhere for after you've gone. They may change their minds about the photos in a few years time.

"We copied all our family photos on a stick"

Make sure you have a backup. Those memory sticks are notoriously unreliable for long-term storage.

I've just done some research, and one of my medals is worth, (or selling for), £18! 💰

Willow11

Can't believe that pp are advising that you throw them away.
I'm sure they can be recycled. Put them on social media someone somewhere
might be able to use them. The old clubs might reuse to save money.
No wonder the environment is in a bad state.

Ours weren’t Olympic medals!

The trophies my AC had were plastic, not metal, though some were earned for competing at a high level. Some were engraved with the event and date, but not their names. Not suitable for recycling at all.

The ones they won that were for annual events were returned to the organiser for reuse each year. Those were metal and did have names on, in some cases going back many years.

Thanks for the trophy 🏆, Maremia, and MartavTaurus, that's a posh pot, something else to polish 😂.

M0nica

Put them in boxes, sorted by daughter, and give them to them and insist they dispose of them. That is what we did last year with DD's collection of dolls in national costumes and DS's childhood books.

When we visited AC, we walked in the door holding boxes, put them down in the their halls and left them there.

Good idea Monica. Seems like the best solution.