Charity Clothing collection not what it seems

[Tom Bayford]

Where we live we get about 2 to 3 bags atleast a week its ashame to know there going to the companys who think they can get a cheap and quick buck

[Kenton]

We get so many I used to use them for refuse collection but our local council/collection contractor now only accepts coloured sacks with pre sorted rubbish (either that or they assume that all white polythene bags will be collected by some other white van.

 

That's another thing that annoys me - the white transit/luton collection vans are diven by maniacs. We live up a short private and narrow road with no real turning space yet they drive up at dangerous speeds and then reverse back out again even more annoyed as no one leaves anything out for them.

 

What makes these people think we all have so many clothes to throw away anyway?

 

I've been counting since this post first went up - I'm up to 4 bags already (2 today within minutes of each other)

"british heart foundation"

"national blind children"

"cancer research"

"help the aged"

 

I'm thinking of becoming a collector of collection bags ... to be auctioned on ebay, or shown on antiques roadshow

[Glorious NSE]

Where we live we get about 2 to 3 bags atleast a week its ashame to know there going to the companys who think they can get a cheap and quick buck

 

You need to read the bags Tom, reputable charities use bags too...

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

My wife manages a charity shop. At the risk of getting upset and posting whilst upset I will confine my comments to the following.

 

Charities in this country are regulated by the Charity Commissioners. Charities that are registered abroad are not.

 

If you receive a bag through your door and is is a British registered charity then you can donate knowing that the goods you donate will need to be cleaned and sold by hard working and poorly paid shop staff and volunteers. If you choose not to donate, perhaps an empty bag will be appreciated by the equally poorly paid van driver.

 

Many of the clothes donated are soiled.

 

Some of the goods donated are either damaged or somehow unsaleable. These are sold to bulk ragging firms.

 

The good stuff is priced and hung and sold for quite small sums.

 

The larger, well known charities tend to do better on donations that the smaller ones.

 

There might be one or two people drawing a lot at the top of some charities but the charities are just as susceptible to a sales pitch as the next and these high flyers are among the first to be got rid of.

 

Most of the British charitable status is designed to allow them to avoid paying all the commercial overhead that the mega stores have to pay and to act as a recycling area for the items donated.

 

If you wish to make a regular cash donation to a charity, that is your choice but to suggest that you won't use charity bags or that you resent their use is somewhat churlish. Fortunately, this sort of thinking is in the minority and the British public can and do what they can for charity but are selective when times are hard.

[Kenton]

If you wish to make a regular cash donation to a charity, that is your choice but to suggest that you won't use charity bags or that you resent their use is somewhat churlish. Fortunately, this sort of thinking is in the minority and the British public can and do what they can for charity but are selective when times are hard.

The donation of time/money/unwanted clothes/... to charity should remain the decision of the individual. It is a personal thing between that individual and their conscience.

 

No one should be duped or coerced into giving to any charity by blatant "heart-string" ad campaigns or pushy sales tactics or infuriating leafleting/bagging.

 

Just because volunteer drivers are poorly paid does not excuse the reckless and dangerous driving of the ones around here.

Perhaps there are some who are careful drivers - but they will go un-noticed as they would not drive up our road in the first place)

[bluebottle]

I give what support I can to a locally based charity for the aged, whose soundness I have been able to check. Their shop is in a less well-off part of town (perhaps best not to name it), the customers of which are noticeably in need of cheap, wearable clothes etc., and the shop's stock is well suited to their needs - not much likely to attract book collectors or traders looking for something they can sell on at a profit. Fits most of potential donors requirements - charity begins at home, helping two needy parts of the community, reducing chances of selfish profit-making.

[45156]

If you receive a bag through your door and is is a British registered charity then you can donate knowing that the goods you donate will need to be cleaned and sold by hard working and poorly paid shop staff and volunteers.

 

I don't think anybody here would object to making donations to UK charities, and the point that has been made initially is that a large number of these bags are now being put through the door by commercial operators rather than charities, and it is therefore prudent to check the details on the bag to see whether the registered charity number is there, and if not and it refers to any other type of business, then the charitable element is possibly more dubious.

 

It is true, though, that there are a lot of these bags now, and some will only take specified items, and we had one such which was a UK charity, but the bag had a huge list of items that were NOT wanted. We were disposing of reasonable quality bric a brac such as books, some CDs that I no longer needed, and a large number of good talking books on tape which I had finished with, and which wanted a good home. All of these were on the list of unwanted items, unfortunately.

 

BTW Mrs 45156 and I are well known locally as antique/collectibles types who have good ideas of the relative values of various items, mainly British figure pottery like Beswick and Doulton, and one of the local shops wanted to add us to the list of valuers that they use to filter the goods. If anybody is wondering why so few real "finds" now turn up in charity shops, that's why as a lot of the good stuff is filtered out as part of the process, and may find its way into another shop, or be sold on at auction or to a dealer - good luck to the charities for that, as they get the advantage of a true price, but it has spoiled the fun a bit for the bargain hunter. I am not intending this as a criticism of their processes at all, as I think it's the only way to make sure that they do get full value from the donations - but it's why Ming vases are turning up in charity shops less and less.

[Glorious NSE]

The donation of time/money/unwanted clothes/... to charity should remain the decision of the individual. It is a personal thing between that individual and their conscience.

 

I agree 100%

 

No one should be duped or coerced into giving to any charity by blatant "heart-string" ad campaigns or pushy sales tactics or infuriating leafleting/bagging.

 

Not seeing how any of that "dupes you" into giving though. If you don't like the bags, don't agree with the aims of the charity concerned or aren't convinced it's even a real charity then don't use them. Simples!

[Guest Max Stafford]

I tend to donate surplus stuff in person to the shops. I often go into the local shops looking for retro-style items. Had some nice cuff-links, tie pins and a couple of nice Fred Perry shirts.

Still looking for a knitted tie though, but I live in hope...

 

Dave.

[45156]

I tend to donate surplus stuff in person to the shops. I often go into the local shops looking for retro-style items. Had some nice cuff-links, tie pins and a couple of nice Fred Perry shirts.

Still looking for a knitted tie though, but I live in hope...

 

Dave.

Flares?

 

TBH I think from experience that they might well junk knitted ties as unsellable - you might be better to ask the shop manager to hold any for you - and don't forget that these days, a lot of the shops are stocked from a central warehouse, and not from the in store donations.

 

In that respect, the "independent" shops down on Botchergate and London Road might be better, as they are not the nationals, like the ones in Bank Street and Grapes Row.

 

Stewart

[mr b]

I read with horror at some of your tales and I myself know there are bogus collectors , out there in our area recently the Air Ambulance bags have been stollen only to find the contents ending up at car boot sales. On occasions when called upon I myself manage collections for the local MS society, of wich I suffer. If any forum members are in dout about donations placed in bags , then please hand them in at the charity shop of your choice. One other thing that upsets is charities like Age Concern begging donations from senior citizens .

 

mr B

[Kenton]

Not seeing how any of that "dupes you" into giving though. If you don't like the bags, don't agree with the aims of the charity concerned or aren't convinced it's even a real charity then don't use them. Simples!

I was responding to the previous post that was implying that we should not just throw these out as doing so was

somewhat churlish

. Like all junk posted through the letter box, I object to having waste my time processing their rubbish from my door mat to the dust bin.

 

I fear as the OP has indicated many are indeed "duped" by these bags as some of them are not what they appear to be. When it was just one or two genuine charities doing this once every 6 months or so then it was not so much of a problem - now it is just endless.

 

Today's count is now up to 5

"save the children"

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

The donation of time/money/unwanted clothes/... to charity should remain the decision of the individual. It is a personal thing between that individual and their conscience.

 

I don't think that many people donate goods to charities as a result of conscience. I think it more to do with 'i don't want this but someone else might'. Bag drops facilitate this and make it easy. Frequently, donations are left on shop doorsteps and are ruined or untidy. Again, bags prevent this and increase the level of donations enough to pay for the van and driver.

 

No one should be duped or coerced into giving to any charity by blatant "heart-string" ad campaigns or pushy sales tactics or infuriating leafleting/bagging.

 

An ad campaign is OK if it is a charity you wish to support but not if it isn't, perchance? There is only a finite amount that can be given by any one individual. There are more charities than can be supported by the donation market just now. The ones with shops and van/bagging do better than the ones without.

 

Just because volunteer drivers are poorly paid does not excuse the reckless and dangerous driving of the ones around here.

Perhaps there are some who are careful drivers - but they will go un-noticed as they would not drive up our road in the first place)

 

Reckless and dangerous driving are both criminal offences. Call the police. At the very least, a complaint to the charity will suffice. They have delivered a bag, you have contact. Why would good ones not go up your road?

[Glorious NSE]

Like all junk posted through the letter box, I object to having waste my time processing their rubbish from my door mat to the dust bin.

 

Just done a quick experiment and it's about 10 seconds to pick something up off our doormat, bring it upstairs (we're in a first floor flat) - allow a second or so to look at it and drop in in the bin. Thinking of the many and various properties i've lived in I doubt it's vastly different on average.

 

Kenton, if you really resent the loss of those precious few seconds, can I suggest a time and motion study to help reduce it's obviously harsh impact on your life. For instance why not leave them all sat by the door and then bin the lot in one go once a week - that might save you nearly a whole minute over the course of a week.

 

Apologies for this not-entirely-serious answer. Keep smilin' eh?

[Kenton]

I don't think that many people donate goods to charities as a result of conscience. I think it more to do with 'i don't want this but someone else might'. Bag drops facilitate this and make it easy. Frequently, donations are left on shop doorsteps and are ruined or untidy. Again, bags prevent this and increase the level of donations enough to pay for the van and driver.

 

An ad campaign is OK if it is a charity you wish to support but not if it isn't, perchance? There is only a finite amount that can be given by any one individual. There are more charities than can be supported by the donation market just now. The ones with shops and van/bagging do better than the ones without.

Both of these apply to the isuue of public awareness - awareness that the charity exists, awareness that the charity accepts "goods".

I do not have that great an issue of a charity making people aware. My main objection is to the "starving child from Biafra" type images repeatedly thrown out through the media and by door drops of cards pleading for donations. You are very correct that there is only so much to go round and yet the number of charities (often very similar in their "appeal" seems to grow and grow. The almost bullying nature of the "donate JUST 30p a day and you will save this child's life" type of advert. Why 30p, why per day, why that particular charity?

 

As stated before I cannot see how these bags are effective. There are simply too many of hem and they are too frequent, all they do now is irritate the householder or they simply and automatically bin the bags. I doubt if many households actively think I must put it in that particular bag.

 

I haven't checked the 5 I currently have but once inside the bag used to be an anonymous white bag. So if I idid put something in one what makes me cynically think that the next white van round will just pick it up thinking it is intended for them.

 

If this was managed correctly then the collection would be more organised, say one bag per month and one collection van, also clearly maked. The collection company being regulated and operated for ALL subscribing charities. But that requires charities to work together - not realistic.

 

Reckless and dangerous driving are both criminal offences. Call the police. At the very least, a complaint to the charity will suffice. They have delivered a bag, you have contact. Why would good ones not go up your road?

As explained, nothing can turn. It is a narrow private road off a small close, anything that goes up has to reverse out potentially clipping cars and riding down the garden gnomes .. and the odd child playing. The police are about as interested as the local council and have, to be fair, other things to be coping with. Of course one white van looks the same as another white van and could belong to any one of the charities currently bagging the area.

[Glorious NSE]

You are very correct that there is only so much to go round and yet the number of charities (often very similar in their "appeal" seems to grow and grow. The almost bullying nature of the "donate JUST 30p a day and you will save this child's life" type of advert. Why 30p, why per day, why that particular charity?

 

A complaint earlier in this very thread was that folk don't know where their money is going and what is being done with it - that type of advertising is common simply because it gives you some idea over what your money can do. The idea isn't that you MUST give that much, less, more, the same the charity will be happy with your donation i'm sure - the idea is to give an idea of what kind of effect your money could have.

 

why that particular charity?

 

Why not that particular charity? If you know another one doing similar work that you prefer and that ad gets you thinking enough to donate to them is that not a good thing?

[Guest dilbert]

Isn't charity about helping others less fortunate to become at least independent in life ?

 

1. Donating funds is one way of helping others (maybe there's a tax break in there as well)...

2. Releasing surplus items for resale is another, no problem

3. The most difficult option is donating your time and effort to a cause on a voluntary basis - it can be very frustrating and yet is at the same time rewarding. Just try it ..dilbert