Charity shop forced to close ... elf 'n'safety chiefs demand £25k manager/supervisor

PasturesNew

A successful charity shop has been forced out of business after volunteers were ordered to hire a £25,000-a-year manager to enforce health and safety rules.

Pensioners who run the Cancer Research UK shop in Cullompton, Devon, were told they need a paid manager to teach them 'how to use cleaning products properly'.

Now the shop, which raised £42,000 for the charity last year, has been forced to shut down after charity bosses told volunteers they are uninsurable.

Good old DM: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366771/You-look-Charity-shop-forced-close-elf-nsafety-chiefs-demand-25k-manager-supervise-volunteers.html

mkaibear

PasturesNew wrote: »

Good old DM: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366771/You-look-Charity-shop-forced-close-elf-nsafety-chiefs-demand-25k-manager-supervise-volunteers.html

Or alternatively "charity shop cannot get cover against public liability, forced to close"

Which seems perfectly reasonable to me - it's a public place, they need to have public liability insurance as they have a duty of care to the people who come in.

It's got nothing to do with "a 25k manager to supervise volunteers" or "teaching them to use cleaning products", that's just the DM blowing out of its bottom again.

martindow

When you see titles of some threads you just know it is from an article in the Mail!

ILW

mkaibear wrote: »

Or alternatively "charity shop cannot get cover against public liability, forced to close"

Which seems perfectly reasonable to me - it's a public place, they need to have public liability insurance as they have a duty of care to the people who come in.

It's got nothing to do with "a 25k manager to supervise volunteers" or "teaching them to use cleaning products", that's just the DM blowing out of its bottom again.

I would rather take my chances going into a charity shop without public liability cover than see them closed down. Does that make me a dangerously reckless individual?

FTBFun

ILW wrote: »

I would rather take my chances going into a charity shop without public liability cover than see them closed down. Does that make me a dangerously reckless individual?

Not necessarily. However all businesses - profit making or otherwise - need to have this sort of cover. If an old lady breaks her hip after falling over in a charity shop due to a loose carpet I doubt anyone could claim that is reckless.

lincroft1710

I think this thread should have been posted on either the Charities board or the Praise, Vent and Warnings board, it's got nothing to do with House Buying, Renting or Selling.

PasturesNew

lincroft1710 wrote: »

I think this thread should have been posted on either the Charities board or the Praise, Vent and Warnings board, it's got nothing to do with House Buying, Renting or Selling.

It's to do with the economy - and some of the bureaucratic nonsense that disables people in this country from either starting a business, running a business, or participating in the glorious Big Society.

Emmzi

oh rubbish.

I can do H&S assessements, loads of people can, you can hire folk in to do guidance and set up systems quite cheap (or voluntary) and then the volunteers just have to keep it going.

Load of old tosh.

patman99

Average wage for charity shop manager/ess in Colchester - £12k - £16,500 p/a.

evoke

The world has gone truly mad. Welcome to Blair's politically-correct, namby-pamby, looney liberal-left, bleeding-heart, tree-hugging world where common sense has been banned and society panders to the lowest common denominator.

Rather than lowering ourselves to the dumbest in our midst, we should let nature take its course with those whose minds haven't evolved and aspire to better ourselves. And that can only come about through risk-taking, having some get-up-and-go and developing a decent set of cahooneys to take on the world rather than hiding behind some of the dumbest rules and regulations ever produced in the history of mankind.

The fantastic Daily Mail is right. It's health and safety gone bleedin' mad!

Londonsu

All Charity shops should have a paid manager thats been the law for a good few years.

I currently volunteer in one I am a key holder but we have a paid manager who oversees 5 shops on the island, he makes policies, oversees H&S and has overall responsibility for hiring and firing volunteers - although I train my own

25k for a Manager is rubbish I start a paid job in a Charity shop in a few weeks time at just above min wage and I will be assistant manager (although Island wages are lower than the mainland).