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Charity Shop Ignorance

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Comments

  • jules888
    jules888 Posts: 552 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Ive worked for 15 years 1 morning a week in my local charity shop.Have seen many changes including the introduction of pay for managers which i at 1st disagreed with but now dont as ours does a lot of paperwork etc than me or other volunteers&work more hours..Im always polite when given donations&have never in any charity shops not heard thank you given for a donation.I think some items are too expensive but government help for charities,mines a hospice has gone down in recent years and with the advent of cheap clothes in shops etc its difficult for charity shops.Im 43 and am one of the younger ones in the shop,most are retired ladies who work there.
  • chocsessential
    chocsessential Posts: 985 Forumite
    u1bd2005 wrote: »
    If our volunteers aren't friendly and dont work hard they get told to leave, simple.

    I'm only voluntary, but i've been at scope since around june/july last year, and the amount of volunteers I've seen who haven't even lasted a week because of their attitude is astounding.

    But I think it's nice that we get a broad range of volunteers, from year 10 work placements, to probationists etc...

    I heard someone say earlier that most volunteers are older people, but from my experience most of the ones i've seen are usually younger in their 20-30s.

    Though I am the youngest at the moment in our shop (recently turned 20) but I'm a designated volunteer, which is amazing experience for someone my age.

    (I actually start paid work on monday at the passport office, but im still going to continue my voluntary work.)

    Hi, and congratulations on getting your new job at the passport office :j

    Sorry but I just wanted to ask - what's a designated volunteer? It sounds like you've done really well in your role so I imagine it's something which carries more responsbility.
  • u1bd2005
    u1bd2005 Posts: 80 Forumite
    chocsessential wrote: »
    Hi, and congratulations on getting your new job at the passport office :j

    Sorry but I just wanted to ask - what's a designated volunteer? It sounds like you've done really well in your role so I imagine it's something which carries more responsbility.

    Heya, Designated volunteer is similar to normal volunteer, but I also handle things such as cashing up, banking, answering phone, paperwork, and i'm also a keyholder and run the shop most sundays.

    I also get left in charge of running the shop every now and again.

    From time to time I also have to assign jobs to the normal volunteers to do.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,021 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    u1bd2005 wrote: »
    Heya, Designated volunteer is similar to normal volunteer, but I also handle things such as cashing up, banking, answering phone, paperwork, and i'm also a keyholder and run the shop most sundays.

    I also get left in charge of running the shop every now and again.

    From time to time I also have to assign jobs to the normal volunteers to do.
    It's good to have a system like that, because clearly not all volunteers would want the responsibility of cashing up and banking. We don't run a shop, but we do use a lot of volunteers, and some are recognised as 'Team Leaders', which means the other volunteers and the clients can ask them questions which would otherwise have to wait for a member of staff to answer. But some, despite having been volunteering since the year dot, just don't want that responsibility, which is fine!
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • OrkneyStar
    OrkneyStar Posts: 7,025 Forumite
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    Lots of interesting comments, I still wouldn't pay £10 for a dress in a charity shop (despite people thinking I should lol) unless it was a very posh one for a very special event! Each to their own though. Like most retail shops there will also be charity shops to suit every taste/purse! I do think though that £2 or £3 for a good quality second hand M and S or Next top is as good value as the same price for a new Atmosphere one! I had a clean out recently- put some things on ebay, some on freegle, some in charity bin, and some in the normal bin (not decent enough to donate and would be wasting charity shop workers time imho!).
    Ermutigung wirkt immer besser als Verurteilung.
    Encouragement always works better than judgement.
  • chocsessential
    chocsessential Posts: 985 Forumite
    The charity shop I used to donate to (not any more, sulk sulk) sells very expensive clothes and they just stay on the rails. This is not a wealthy area and I don't know how they expect to sell anything at all. I do understand they have their overheads but if they charge too much people just won't buy. I used to live in another area with an RSPCA shop and a Barnardo's shop, and they were brilliant. The items were on sale at a variety of prices and the RSPCA manager was always marking items down for quick sale which I liked to take advantage of. I like to buy cheap t-shirts and alter them on my sewing machine. I don't mind buying a £1 t-shirt and if it all goes wrong it ends up as a duster, but I'm not happy to pay over the odds for a t-shirt that's probably cheaper in Peacocks or Primark.
  • Reverbe
    Reverbe Posts: 4,210 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Are people aware that charities pay PR companies huge amounts of money for those chuggers on the street? Reports I have read and also from speaking to some of them on our local high street confirm that the chuggers make at least £8 per hour which is a lot more than minimum wage and tho I cant recall I have been told by a chugger exactly what said charity paid the PR firm who employed the chuggers .
    What Would Bill Buchanan Do?
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,021 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    There have been a few discussions about chuggers and what they're paid elsewhere. :wink:

    Good news, I managed to find a work related excuse to head back to that charity shop today, and it was open, and that lovely pink jacket fitted perfectly, and as I had taken in a bag of goodies for them I got £1 off!

    Most of their workers have problems of some kind, so I accept I won't get a fully 'polished' response from them, but I like to support them.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • OrkneyStar
    OrkneyStar Posts: 7,025 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Well after all my moaning about prices I just paid £5 for some jeans in the Red Cross shop- lol they are in brilliant condition though and a great make :).
    Also donated 3 bin bags of old toys, and got DS a couple of small things.
    Ermutigung wirkt immer besser als Verurteilung.
    Encouragement always works better than judgement.
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