Just how many old clothes do Charities think I have?

cafcfan

It' s got to the stage where not a week goes by without at least one and probably more of those charity clothes collections bags dropping through the letterbox. And I'm not counting leaflets from those dodgy east european outfits either - there's always a couple of those.
This week so far it's been the "Little Treasures Children's Trust" (never heard of them); "Breast Cancer Prevention Programme" (no charity number on that one!) and the NSPCC.
If I have stuff they get it but surely it's just overkill now? Can't they just amalgamate their efforts, do co-ordinated collections and share the proceeds? I can't believe it still makes money for them all.
Still the bags come in handy for the kitchen bin.

Airman Brown

Some of the people doing this are not charities, but businesses who promise to donate a percentage. It's worth reading the small print (before throwing away!).

Bournemouth Addick

Some of the "companies" doing this are earning a flipping fortune selling the stuff on. The latest figures I saw were that the collection companies are getting an average of £5 per bag collected. Multiply that up through 100's bags collected per day and it's suddenly big business with a large element of cash payment.

As Airman says be very careful which bag you put your old stuff in if you want it to go to a proper charity and not end up being sold on for the benefit of a individual who may or may not make a charitable contribution.

Leroy Ambrose

It's not 'some' - more like 95% of them. Disgraceful that they're allowed to get away with making the leaflets look like the clothes are going to a real charity, but -unfortunately - nothing illegal about it. Mostly organised by Lithuanian (ahem) 'import/export' companies.

cafcfan

[cite]Posted By: Leroy Ambrose[/cite]It's not 'some' - more like 95% of them. Disgraceful that they're allowed to get away with making the leaflets look like the clothes are going to a real charity, but -unfortunately - nothing illegal about it. Mostly organised by Lithuanian (ahem) 'import/export' companies.

Yes, I reckon you're right, I looked again at the "Breast Cancer Prevention Programme" sack and it is indeed from a company that says it makes a "donation" to breast screening in Lithuania but is obviously trying to look like the regular UK charity.

nth_london_addick

i never knew this thankyou i will now take my stuff to mary currie

GNelson

Never realised this either

Weegie Addick

Quite right, NLA - just take it into a shop and that way you know where it's gone.

Mind you, they can then also put a face to the dodgy clothes ;-)

Leroy Ambrose

Yikes - I thought this scam was common knowledge! I feel a website coming on...

scruffle

there was a massive thing across the news couple of months back about this all scams, most eastern block run

Henry Irving

http://www.whocanyoutrust.org.uk/#/clothing-collections/4532866426

C.Walsh'sLoveChild

Its a lot safer just to take it into a shop

Henry Irving

I give it to the local Millwall families. They are always grateful

mistrollingin

I always pnone the local British Heart Foundation when I have stuff. They are more than happy to come and pick it from my home. Never leave it outside as some other bunch purporting to be charities will nick it. Or, as C.Walsh said take it direct to a shop.

mistrollingin

That's why all the local millwall lads are wearing cardigans Henry.

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: mistrollingin[/cite]That's why all the local millwall lads are wearing cardigans Henry.

Give away a cardie? you must be joking.

As Rod sang "An old Carigan Never Lets you Down"

McLovin

From letterbox to bin in seconds.

powerchord

Three years ago, I watched a programme on local businesses on Community Channel. One episode was centred on Deptford.

To my astonishment, a market stall owner in Deptford Market trading in second-hand clothes had a business with a turnover of FOUR million pounds.

She was given or purchased -for pennies - the scrag-end of charity shop donations from SE England - by the truck load. Thats the stuff that you and I don't want - and the charity shops don't want. The volume was staggering - I seem to recall a figure of N tonnes per day.

There was a form of triage.

She employed an army of seamstresses (based in some Arches in SE8) to repair a small percentage of clothing to resell with a rather lovely added value.

Some of these were sold by the rail (say 40 - 100 quid) to other Markets' market-traders.

The second cut was items that could pass as garments - these were sent to a sorting facility (? in Croydon?).

The scale of this was epic - aircraft-hangar sized - mountains of clothing thirty feet high. ForkLift trucks stuffing shipping boxes with shrunk wrapped bundles. For Export.

Third triage cut was rags. Still a sale-able commodity.

Any cloth that could be cut into a blanket or sheet was held in stock "for disasters".

mistrollingin

A rags to riches story.

powerchord

and

riches

from

niches

Covered End

[cite]Posted By: windscreen[/cite]Dropping a lump of dogshit in with the clothes makes me smile a smug smile!

WTF ?

I think you need medical attention.

tangoflash

Isn't it ironic when they say these collections are for 3rd world countries when thats probably where most of them were made in the first place. It made me chuckle a few weeks ago when i was browsing in a charity shop and saw a printed T-shirt selling for £5. the same item (new) was in primark for £3. As you can probably tell, i'm not that big on clothes shopping. :-)