Clothing Collections

T.F.S.B.I.G.W.S.

I've seen so many warnings about clothing collections - can any of the clothing collection organisations be trusted? (What about Children's Hearts?)
cheers
T

lincroft1710

Read exactly what it says on the bag/leaflet that comes through your letterbox. If it says "We donate £50 (e.g.) per tonne of clothes collected to xxxx charity", then you know it's a commercial company getting stuff for free and giving a charity (or claiming to give) a (small?) percentage of their profit.

Any UK based registered charity will quote its registration number on its literature which you can check with Charity Commissioners.

Google "Children's Heart Charity Scam", there are several entries which seem to be worth reading

Ballymackeonan

I've seen a couple of leaflets recently which were extremely suspect - one quoted the Companies Registry number and another a VAT number where you would expect the charity reference.

Also I've seen some with something like "providing goods to **** at a price they can afford" - these are being shipped to various contries for sale, rather than being donated to the needy.

I either donate directly to charity shops, or if something is bulky, call in and arrange a collection!

Gertie_Walker

I dont think you can even rely on seemingly kosher bags nowadays. There have been instances of scammers using registered charities' reg numbers and logo's. I agree, its safer to donate direct to shops or the charity itslef.

paulwf

We're now up to about 2 legitimate charity bag requests a week - I'm surprised the proper charities still bother, you'd think everyone would have cleared out their old stuff by now.

Alison_B

We get on average 2 charity bags per week and a couple of leaflets asking for clothing donations. I only tend to give to the ones I know have a charity shop like Help the Aged or Heart Foundation.

We had a collection due yesterday and whilst I was taking the dog for a walk, I noticed a really scruffy people carrier driving irratically down the streets with people jumping out and grabbing the bags. About an hour later, a collection van came down but there was nothing left as these people had taken it.

lincroft1710

paulwf wrote: »

We're now up to about 2 legitimate charity bag requests a week - I'm surprised the proper charities still bother, you'd think everyone would have cleared out their old stuff by now.

Shelter's turn today, about a third of the houses on our street put out a filled bag. Sometimes we get 2 a week for clothes collection and still a few bags are put out for each collection. And the houses are only average 3 bed semis.

paulwf

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Shelter's turn today, about a third of the houses on our street put out a filled bag. Sometimes we get 2 a week for clothes collection and still a few bags are put out for each collection. And the houses are only average 3 bed semis.

Amazing!

Also good for the charities involved

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Ballymackeonan wrote: »

I've seen a couple of leaflets recently which were extremely suspect - one quoted the Companies Registry number and another a VAT number where you would expect the charity reference.

Also I've seen some with something like "providing goods to **** at a price they can afford" - these are being shipped to various contries for sale, rather than being donated to the needy.

I either donate directly to charity shops, or if something is bulky, call in and arrange a collection!

I hate to burst your bubble, but most charities DO NOT donate clothes abroad, they are sold..so the t shirt that you donated into that charity shop, or put into that well know charity bag... is NOT given to a poor child in africa... they are sold to big importers, and then get sold on to wholesalers, and street market sellers..

lincroft1710

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Shelter's turn today, about a third of the houses on our street put out a filled bag. Sometimes we get 2 a week for clothes collection and still a few bags are put out for each collection. And the houses are only average 3 bed semis.

NSPCC today, very poor, less than 10% have put out filled bags.

lincroft1710

lincroft1710 wrote: »

NSPCC today, very poor, less than 10% have put out filled bags.

Breast Cancer in Lithuania today, only one filled bag in whole street.