Which is the most deserving [and reliable] charity shop for donations...?

[theron]

In my opinion, all charity shops are deserving. I donate items to charity shops that I no longer use or need, and I am more than happy to give the item a new lease of life and a loving new home.. if you're concerned that they're not being sold for enough/gaining enough for the charity, then sell them yourself! Volunteers take the time out of their lives to do a great job, and it's disheartening to see people picking flaws in the system - charity shops everywhere are always looking for new volunteers!

[Pugwash]

From what I can gather from a volunteer at St. Christopher's is that when people donate, they are asked whether they wish the charity to claim gift aid . The forms are kept at the till and until recently only having one till and limited space for people filling in the forms, meant that frequently people purchasing would get impatient having to wait whilst the Gift Aid form was being processed by the donator and volunteer, that they would just dump their stuff and walk away - thus losing the charity many sales.

With the reorganisation of the shop, 2 computerised tills have been installed, one will be used for general sales and the other for purchasers with a Gift Aid card as this has to be processed in a different way and takes longer to ring up.

I have seen 'designer' or well known labels priced higher due to their good condition and did hear of a ?20 dress being sold and when the purchaser looked the designer up on the computer, found that the dress was selling for over ?100 retail, so they got a very good bargain.

As St. Christopher's has many shops in SE London and Kent, stock not selling well, or too much stock is transferred to other branches. Bags which are left outside the shops are frequently torn open and scattered across the pavements and can be torn and/or get dirty ( or simply peed upon by dogs and humans) so have to be binned.

Members of my family over the years have been volunteers in charity shops and have always been told that they have to pay for any goods they want in the shops so that the charity does not lose out.

I have also overheard people trying to haggle a lower price for items in St. Christopher's - wanting something priced as ?1 for 10p!.

[Elphinstone's Army]

singalto Wrote:

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> I take lots of stuff to local charity shops and

> find these posts disheartening..

explain

[Elphinstone's Army]

Jacqui5254 Wrote:

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> I totally get the.. 'any amount raised is a good

> thing', 'charities are short staffed and admin

> might be lax'.

> However, if you regularly take many bags full of

> very sellable items and over a year the amount

> raised is just over ?13 there has to be something

> going wrong somewhere.

Something is very wrong -

'charity shops' the clue is in the title. Years ago, these shops were not only to raise funds for Oxfam whatever, but to provide cheap clothing and goods for the needy of the borough, few of those in ED now I would think, however - prices of lacklustre clothes and goods in CS have risen, volunteers and salaried workers both, believe that they are on a mission to extract as much money from the public as possible, and good for them, but who wants to pay more for an item (used) in a CS than when it was new, especially Primark stuff, an old chestnut I know, but true, and kitchen stuff - who is buying this junk???

The worst offender here I believe is the Mary's living and giving - my famiy have donated top quality unused, unusual clothes, belts, bags, cashmere, suede, silk, and never seen it out on the rails/shelves. hmmmm We did not take these goods in for the benefit of the staff, they were meant to help the children for whom the donations were intended, so I truly hope the 'recipients' put into the pot.

I have taken cleaned washed, ironed, bagful of clothes into the Mind shop to be told - 'put it over there' as though I was a nuisance! and also been in the shop atthe weekend when people have staggered in with bagfulls of clothing/toys/books to be told 'we cannot take any more" so donators are sent away with their tail between their legs.

Apart from a regular donation to the Cancer Research in Camberwell, take clothes/textiles into H&M in Brixton or Bromley, a small H&M bag recycled allows a ?5 voucher, which to us is of more value.

Winter is coming

we all need jumpers

This is not good stuff, or saleable stuff, but clean worn out knitwear, socks, underwear, t towels, threadbare things, which are recycled.

I totally agree with Lynne - I would rather pass clothes on to whoever needs them than use a charity shop as agent/middle man, creaming off the top, not to deny a worthy cause, but certainly to deny the fat cats purring

in the cream.

St Christophers - for whoever has visited their motheaten shop in Sydenham and seen the prices of the dirty worn clothes (which someone is buying) will realise, the whole situation is both invidious and unsatisfactory - everyone likes to be acknowledged, appreciated, and not made to feel as though they are being taken for granted or being milked.

The LL shop is not renowned for it's bargains, although the hopeful keep looking......

Local charity shop managers - If you want decent prices- sell decent goods, not those which desperately need dry cleaning/washing/hems taken upas they have been badly adjusted/buttons missing/ washed to despair/bitty/wrongly sized/washed inappropriately/(so that the lining hangs lower than the rest)/holey/labels cut out so that we do not know how to best launder/what the article is made of/dirty/old/say St Michael when this has not been current for 17 years but you insist it's M&S ?! of an old vintage which has no value now/washed out/ shrunk/ boiled/hems hanging/parts missing - belt/hood/other part of a suit/moth holes!!!!!

and learn labels, Secret Possessions is not the same as Rigby and Peller, it is Primark !!! and F&F is Tesco fhs!!

but Principles Richards and Dickens and Jones are long defunct,and Jane Norman is not a designer brand.

And measure trousers length and make some sort of effort - you want to make a sale, you want to be taken seriously, put the work in.

You have taken us for easy targets long enough, acting as though you are doing us all a big favour, but the tide is turning and we will find other outlets, Emmaus, BHF, Sense in Peckham - this relationship needs effort from the shop in order to be symbiotic.

In the Children in need shop, when whoever is on the desk answers the telephone, it is with the opening "Mary's Living and Giving Shop" - Mary's - feed the ego, dress the volunteers, keep your conscience clear, what we really need here is a Dress Agency.

We all have a fundamental need to provide as much as we can and to look after those less fortunate than ourselves. However this is cynically exploited here. Anyone who shops in CS in other parts of the south east/country will know this - I bought a silk Jaegar skirt for 3.99 last week in Guildford, still with the dry cleaning label, I was thrilled,

and will return to this shop when possible, I have to say though the standard was high. In Guildford. Donating here means that we are feeding the beast, which we could starve.

I am not advocating denying the worthy - I am though suggesting that there must be a better and more direct way to benefit the needy.

> I'm not the only one who raises questions about

> where some of their donations end up, and if they

> have a 'help yourself' policy for staff, or take

> my good things to dealers who don't then use the

> money for the hospice, then I want to know.

>

> Inefficiency or not, St Christophers Hospice Shop

> is a huge place that is always full of customers

> and it's not good business to tell your donors

> that the huge effort they have made accounts for

> very little. There are 17 shops associated with

> St Christopher's Hospice which is great. They are

> big business and they ask for quality goods. I

> can't believe that they aren't able to have an

> accurate recording system when the hospice relies

> on these funds to help run their excellent

> service.

>

> http://www.stchristophers.org.uk/shops/our-shops-i

> n-numbers/

>

> I genuinely expected my contributions to have

> brought in at least 10 times the ?13.81 they

> claimed. That's quite a discrepancy so either

> their accounting system is way wrong or decent

> goods are finding their way elsewhere.

> I hear lots of tales about the latter so maybe

> now it's time to take things elsewhere. And maybe

> I won't be so passive and grateful, because I

> genuinely made a big effort, thinking my

> contributions would make a small difference. Not

> a microscopic one.

>

> Thanks for all the good suggestions everybody.

[Elphinstone's Army]

shelly2106 Wrote:

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> We used to be able to recycle textiles at the

> mobile recycling van every month at Sainsbury's

> but sadly the council has recently stopped this

> service

This is because people were climbing in to 'liberate' the donations and becoming stuck

[Elphinstone's Army]

Rosetta Wrote:

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> Where to recycle textiles?

If you can take a supermarket size bag into a H&M branch, it will be shredded, pulped, recycled and a ?5 voucher against a purchase for you, in appreciation, look online, it is all described. Old towels/t towels/odd socks, belts,

woolly hats, all oddments, do not bin, claim your voucher

[LouLouMoving]

A lot of these shops - especially the lesser known organisations - are seriously understaffed and run on the kindness of volunteers sharing their time. Bigger household names pay salaries to shop floor managers, so of course you'd expect a more systematic procedure in place for marking gift aid, research behind marking up brands etc. If you're still concerned about your donations you could eBay your stock and donate directly to your chosen charity. Food for thought.

[Pugwash]

St. Christopher's LL have had many paid managers over the past couple of years and some crackpot ideas have taken place.

I had some clothes which were too small for me and good quality but I was informed that they would not take anything over a size 18. Being bigger than that - I have never been able to buy clothing in charity shops although the size 10 and 16 's in my family get many bargains.

I have not been in the St. C's shop in Sydenham for years - we donated a lot of curtains/sheets and clothing when we cleared out my Mum's flat to the extent they told us that they could not take any more so we ended up touring all the charity shops in Forest Hill, Sydenham and Penge.

I do go to Adlife in Forest Hill but find the quality of their clothing poor and somewhat outdated (I look for bargains for my grandchildren) But their book selection is very good - not keen on their bric a brac.

[St Christopher's 1]

Dear Jacqui

We understand your disappointment regarding the recent Gift Aid statement you received from us. We want to assure you, and others, how very grateful we are for your support and generosity. Please rest assured that your donations are extremely valuable to us at St Christopher's and help us to raise the vital funds we need to provide end of life care in the community.

Please also accept our apologies and be aware that we take your comments very seriously. As our Head of Retail mentioned we are in the process of delivering Gift Aid training to the many volunteers who enable us to run this shop which we are confident will ensure Gift Aid is secured and the value of donations raised as a result. We want to assure you that your donations would have raised more than the ?13.81 stated in our recent correspondence however, as your Gift Aid details were not captured on each visit we have not been able to link these to your account. The training we are providing will ensure we make vast improvements going forward.

Thank you again for your support and if you do want to discuss this further please don't hesitate to call us on 020 8768 4585.

St Christopher's Hospice.

[Rosetta]

Elphinstone's Army Wrote:

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> Rosetta Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Where to recycle textiles?

>

>

> If you can take a supermarket size bag into a H&M

> branch, it will be shredded, pulped, recycled and

> a ?5 voucher against a purchase for you, in

> appreciation, look online, it is all described.

> Old towels/t towels/odd socks, belts,

> woolly hats, all oddments, do not bin, claim your

> voucher

Thanks.

[sweetgirl]

I have over the years had many different experiences with donating to charity shops.

my personal opinion is they are very ungrateful!

Its been a couple of years now that I've stopped donating stuff.... instead I leave it outside my door where I feel it will be more appreciated.

clothing I generally take to h&m.... the ?5 voucher is a great help towards my final bill.

[Loz]

sweetgirl Wrote:

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> instead I leave it outside my door where I feel it will be more appreciated.

You mean the bags they shove through your letterbox? They are businesses that, at best, give a tiny amount to the charities to use their name and, at worst may not actually be charities at all.

I just had a look at a bag we got today. The charity receives ?75 per tonne of clothing. That may sound a lot, but a nice shirt weighing, say, 400g would only earn a mere 3p for the charity.

[Coach Beth]

Personally I have always experienced mainly friendly service - with a very odd exception - at the local charity shops. I always ask if I can leave what I have brought - sometimes they have reached capacity and I either take it to another one or take it home. Sometimes the volunteers get abit overwhelmed I think.

I don't take offense when once in a while a volunteer in a charity shop is a bit off and I don't expect every bag of my cast offs to be greeted with high praise and gratitude. To be honest the shops are doing me a favour as I can't be asked with EBay and I feel guilty binning clothes. (And yes, most of the bags through doors are businesses making profit. Although some aren't.)

[mettelw]

You can give your old textiles to H&M in Brixton (or elsewhere) and they will give you ?5 voucher for each bag and they reuse the textiles in their ethical clothing range (or so they say). I give them textiles that could not be sold in a charity shop because they are too old or there are holes in them etc

[Sazzle30]

Sense on Rye lane always asks me for my gift aid and haven't turned anything I give them away.

[KrackersMaracas]

Just popped into Mind at the top of lordship lane with a small bag of items - pretty surprised by their attitude. I asked if I may leave my bag and the woman sighed audibly, said "I suppose you may" and and pointed to the ground. I said I could take it somewhere else if it was too much trouble - and she sighed again and said "as long as it's not books, we'll manage". I shouldn't care - it's about donating goods so that a worthy charity makes money....but it really annoyed me, so I took it to st Christopher's instead (the smaller one on lordship lane). Anyway, the ladies were nice, and actively asked me to sign up for gift aid. I had a dress in there with tags still on so I'm pleased my donation will mean slightly more money is raised.

[Michael Palaeologus]

I went into the Mind shop today, big bag of clothes, two boxes of hard back novels. Same story, took the clothes, somewhat grudgingly, refused the books.

Left feeling somewhat peeved at what has become a picky charity shop.

Any ideas where I can take my books?

[KrackersMaracas]

There is an oxfam bookshop in Berne hill, I think?

[Sue]

Yes there is, opposite the small (and expensive) general Oxfam shop.

The larger hospice shop isn't keen to take books either.

ETA: My granddaughters were staying with me in August. They are 8 and 10 and both keen readers. They get through a lot of books.

We went through the books they had at my house to see which ones they no longer wanted, and ended up with a couple of bags full to take to the hospice shop, with the intention of buying more to replace them.

The shop said they didn't want any more children's books, though in the end they grudgingly agreed to take them. But when the kids went excitedly to the children's section to look for "new" books, there was hardly anything there suited to their reading ages, and empty spaces on the shelves.

I did take this up with the person who said they didn't want any more books, and was told it was because they had nobody to sort the books out.

They were both disappointed to leave without anything at all, not even one book.

[another annie]

We take books to the British Heart Foundation bookshop on Streatham High Road. Not exactly conveniently local, but an easy enough trip on the P13 on my day off. They've never turned down our donations, and we usually have a look round and end up buying more books, it's very well arranged and there's always something interesting.

[siousxiesue]

Shame but the lack of volunteers is really having an effect if they refuse donations because of no-one to sort them.

Sue Wrote:

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> Yes there is, opposite the small (and expensive)

> general Oxfam shop.

>

> The larger hospice shop isn't keen to take books

> either.

>

> ETA: My granddaughters were staying with me in

> August. They are 8 and 10 and both keen readers.

> They get through a lot of books.

>

> We went through the books they had at my house to

> see which ones they no longer wanted, and ended up

> with a couple of bags full to take to the hospice

> shop, with the intention of buying more to replace

> them.

>

> The shop said they didn't want any more children's

> books, though in the end they grudgingly agreed to

> take them. But when the kids went excitedly to the

> children's section to look for "new" books, there

> was hardly anything there suited to their reading

> ages, and empty spaces on the shelves.

>

> I did take this up with the person who said they

> didn't want any more books, and was told it was

> because they had nobody to sort the books out.

>

> They were both disappointed to leave without

> anything at all, not even one book.

[Lynne]

The St Christopher's shop in Kirkdale has a dedicated book department

[i*Rate]

I have great faith in St Christopher's charity shop; I am registered with them and I get a statement, and from all of the stuff I've given over many years I am pleased at how much goes to the hospice. I also believe that the hospice does great work too; I've known people that have worked there and been cared for, so very please to keep giving to them.

As for MIND shop; it always seemed a mess, now has had an expensive face lift, hope it makes a different.

As for Mary's Living and Giving shop (or what ever it's called), I've watched that develop and seen the fitting out of the shop and the later extensive refit. I have also given some 'better' items to them- a designer brand belt and some Rolling Stones vinyl albums in good condition, but never had any statement in spite of registering with them. Considering the rent and running costs and shopfitting, I really can't see how it's made any money for Save the Children since opening; more like a PR job/tax dodge for Mary Portas - who knows?

Cheers and give generously.

[Penguin68]

If you are to judge reliability or ?effectiveness? (in terms of charity shops) then there must be two key criteria, surely. (1) ? how effective are they at turning in-kind donations into income (which would include fully using Gift Aid tax concessions)? And (2) ? how effective are they at deploying income directly to the benefit of their stated aim ? what %age of their income is not lost in administrative cost of the charity itself, including its shops (admin costs for e.g. running a hospice are clearly an appropriate use of funds)? This thread has been (understandably) focused on (1) alone.

And it should be recalled that for the two classes of gift which are least liked (books and textiles) there is a market for these to be processed and recovered even where they are not sold as, well, books and clothes. So it could be argued that charities which are not set-up to handle paper and textiles for recycling where they cannot be sold as-is are less efficient than those which can. And charities which don?t welcome any particular donation, and which are poor at handling the Gift Aid element, are less effective than those that are.

As to ?deserving? ? this surely is purely subjective? I give to charities which focus on people rather than animals, in the main, but I don?t think my choice is ?better? than another. And how would you judge between charities which focus on health issues (i.e. cancer etc.) as opposed to those that focus on poverty or deprivation? Or on UK or non-UK beneficiaries?

[Pugwash]

Both hubby and I do voluntary work and have done since the early 1980's. What you will find in every community that it is the same group of people who seem to cover every thing. Even churches are suffering from lack of volunteers - people will come to church on Sundays but if the church wants to put on a fund raising event - very few volunteer.

As a non Christian - my local church is more a community hub and I am happy to be involved in non religious activities there.

Our children were also involved in voluntary work when they were younger and now with their own families still help out. One daughter is on the committee of a mental health charity which supports art and sculpture for those with poor mental health, her daughter is now also involved in the Art Project. The other daughter taught drama to young people with learning difficulties prior to having a young family herself.

Those people who are given community service often work in charity shops some reluctantly and some willingly so this could affect their attitudes towards donations.

Many shops have designated volunteers who deal with books and may only be in the shop once a week or fortnight. I assume that these people have good knowledge as to whether the book can be priced at ?1 or ?10 depending on the quality/type/ condition/rarity of the subject. I paid ?5 some time ago for an Art Book for my granddaughter to discover that it was priced ?45 in a well known bookshop. This was definitely a bargain.