Charity Shops - less railway books there now?

[Oldddudders]

I see that the RSPCA have had a formal warning from the Charity Commission after it's Interim Chief Exec left with a payout which (reportedly) far exceeds the £150,000 a year salary for the post.  It seems he claimed he was the subject of age discrimination after not getting the job permanently.

I know of at least one Direct Debit contribution that's looking very shaky indeed.....

We will never know the circs. But it is not hard to imagine that the individual concerned was some sort of square peg, and paying him to go away was actually protecting the society. Of course his spin would be different.....

[hayfield]

For a long time now I’ve been thinking that to be officially/legally designated a charity that you should a) spend 85% of the money raised on the good cause you espouse and b) no employee to be paid more than twice the national average wage.

 

 

It may be quite hard as my daughters youngest step daughter works for a charity (which obtains its own funding) who's job is allocating peoples charitable giving to causes the donor wishes to support, plus has a second string to its bow by assisting donors in hosting fund raising events. Basically helping (researching the recipients) rich people giving their money away. Apparently there are similar groups in most counties. this could fail your test if its regulations are too simplistic

[Andy Kirkham]

For a long time now I’ve been thinking that to be officially/legally designated a charity that you should a) spend 85% of the money raised on the good cause you espouse and b) no employee to be paid more than twice the national average wage.

 

It occurred to me that there might be a law that required all charities to state the salary of their highest-paid employee on all printed material. 

Edited August 27, 2018 by Andy Kirkham

[Alex TM]

Hi everyone,

 

First - I should declare that both my wife and I are 'employed' by registered charities, and therefore have an interest in this discussion.

 

Second - I think that the comments from both 'The Snapper', and 'Andy' (post 53, etc) have some merit to them.  That said, limiting salaries can have a detrimental effect in a variety of ways.  If salaries are extremely high then I can see how that may attract the kind of experience, education, and skills that running the operation requires, while at the same time detracting potential supporters.  I also know of charities that struggle to recruit as they pay the minimum wage, making it difficult to find staff who can afford to live within a reasonable commuting distance of their base of operations (important if working unsociable hours or if commuting is difficult).

 

Third - I think much of the Third Sector experiences a waste of financial resources through unnecessary duplication.  For example, a few years ago a well-known charity set up a base here in Edinburgh, immediately duplicating the work done by a number of existing organisations with whom they were now competing for 'custom'.

 

I hope that makes some kind of sense.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[polybear]

We will never know the circs. But it is not hard to imagine that the individual concerned was some sort of square peg, and paying him to go away was actually protecting the society. Of course his spin would be different.....

 

They've had a bo***cking from the Charity Commission, so the circumstances can't have been favourable (except for the CE, of course).

Square Peg?  I can be one of those (actually, at work I probably am to some.  Learning the Company Song and dancing to the tune of HR most definitely isn't on my list of things to do, ever).  Any time the Boss wants to give me more than my annual salary to p*** off, I'm game....

[brushman47544]

I took a few crates of railway books into the Oxfam Bookshop in Dorking last week and they were pleased to have them as they sell well - they even had some in their window display.

 

But the charity shops do seem to be more discerning in the specialist books they will take. They prefer such books in tip-top condition too. If the subject doesn't sell well locally, the books seem to be transferred elsewhere, at a cost, or go for recycling, and some Councils impose limits on how much they will collect over a period.

[Alex TM]

Hi again,

 

Since this morning's post I've had a chat with the manager of one of our local charity shops; he tells me that they manage to get a fair price on railway books, and usually manage to sell them.  If they have sufficient, he will create a window display devoted to them.

 

From my experience with that shop, the prices are very competitive compared with 'Amazon', ABE, etc.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[MikeParkin65]

Not wishing to restart the discussion about the virtues of one charity over another but to flag up that Oxfam Cardiff has been given a large collection of what we might term quality railway titles. Its 4 books less due to me but well worthy of a visit if you are in the area. Some in the window,most on the shelves. Only 50 yards from Antics too

[Ohmisterporter]

We’ve got two charity book shops locally, and I’ve found ‘solid’ railway books in both, including a pristine copy of the ‘Red Devil’ steam loco design textbook by Wardale for £3, and i’ve donated good quality books to one when I ran out of space and got rid of my GWR sub-collection.

 

I think it’s a matter of chance, based on who is ‘thinning’ and when you happen to call.

 

Earlier this month The Red Devil was for sale at Barter Books for £120, so you got a great bargain there. If you can understand it that will be an even bigger bargain.

[hayfield]

 

 

I've found there are certain branches of Oxfam that seem to specialise in transport, though. The one at the top of Park Street in Bristol for instance has sometimes had some real quality stuff; I got the Drummond volume of Bradley's LSWR Locomotives there, as well as both volumes of Edward Talbot's LNWR Mincellany

 

 

 

I would expect that if a member of staff knew their subject and the local (book buying) railway enthusiasts became aware of a source of decent books sensibly priced, over time demand would increase the need to keep these items in stock and widen the range. Basic retailing.