Forum Topic

Charity Shops

I am beginning to wonder whether some of these Charity Shops are getting too big for their boots!I am surprised that certain charity shops are telling customers  they do not need donations - they have far too many already!If this is the case why don't they just pass them on to their other branches?Also, I have heard from a few people that some donations never see light of day in the shops but are taken by the staff. I do hope this is not true as goods are donated in the hope that charities like the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research would benefit from well meaning donations.It is also sad that bags left on doorsteps for collection are also stolen. What kind of world are we living in?

Jean F Fernandez ● 4756d2 Comments

I have volunteered in a couple. The stuff is graded and sent off to other branches according to the clothes' condition and price, then huge bags of the less good stuff is sent off to Africa. Nothing in the ones I experienced is wasted. And yes Philippa storage is a huge problem. It'll be interesting to see the new one in West Ealing (the Enterprise one) when that opens soon

Viv Ellis ● 4755d

Storage space can be a problem.  Obviously in the summer the majority of clothes sold tend to be summer ones and not woolly jumpers!There is a good market for clothing and stuff not considered saleable can be sold on as 'rags'.  People tend to be very fussy about the state of clothing they buy from charity shops despite the prices being so much less than new.  You're probably more likely to wear a hand-me-down from a relation or friend - even when they become 'gardening clothes'.The charity shops don't ever seem to have much menswear - or childrenswear any more.Not enough people volunteer to work in them.There have been instances of the emergency services having to extract people from clothing banks.  I'm sure there are youtube pictures of people climbing in to steal from them. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!

Philippa Bond ● 4755d