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What's new?
Introduction
- This page deals with 'what's new' on the website - eg new pages, modified pages and deletions.
- SEE ALSO :
- the drop-down menus
- eg items labelled "New", "Revised", "Expanded", "New entries". - the top of the site's home page for recent news.
- the News and snippets page for recent news etc.
- the Brief history of clothing collections - Timeline page for recent news.
- the drop-down menus
- The list below is in reverse-date order - in other words, the newest items at the top.
- The list helps if you've visited the website before - allowing you to see quickly the main changes made since your last visit. This means you won't have to check all the website for changes.
- If you hover over any link below, the name of the page is displayed on the status bar (usually at the bottom left of your browser's screen).
- "New page" indicates a new page.
- "deleted" indicates a deleted page.
- "#webdes" indicates that the item focuses on web design - rather than on content.
See also the page on Web design. - Generally, items without links mean they've been superseded (eg the 'site index' page)
- The list excludes minor changes - such as only two or three paragraphs.
Newest item :
313. "Treating Children with Cancer" charity (TCWC) New page
Moved this section from the "A-Z list of collectors" page to a new, dedicated page.
312. Links to www.CharityBags.org.uk page
Improved and expanded the page - including new sections.
Added around 15 new entries - eg Met Police, Bexley Council, Worcester News.
Added more extracts from articles and more images.
311. 'Gloucestershire & Worcestershire Air Ambulance' ['G & W'] scam New page
310. New "fixed headings" panel on some pages (=Table of Contents, =ToC)
ToC
Most of our pages have a list of headings - it's a Table of Contents for the page, with links. Until now, it's been in a panel at the top of the page. The headings panel is 'static' - in other words, it's 'glued' to the web page. So, when you scroll down the page, the headings panel (with its links) disappears off the screen, alas. This is inconvenient with longer pages.
So, we're adding a new, better system to some pages, as follows.
You can still have the headings panel positioned at the top (as before).
However, now the panel has two alternative (better) positions: right and left.
With these, the headings panel is always available - wherever you are on the page.
1. RIGHT - When you load the page, the headings panel is now positioned to the right of the page. This panel stays fixed (always visible) as you scroll up and down the page. This works well with higher screen resolutions (eg 1024 x 768 pixels or more) and with widescreen monitors.
2. LEFT - You can change the position of the headings panel so it's on the left side.
In this position, it's hidden until you hover your mouse near the left edge of the screen. Then the panel slides out temporarily, partly covering the page.
This is useful if you're using a lower screen resolution (eg 800 x 600 pixels) - because you haven't got enough screen width to view the page AND all the headings panel, side-by-side. Again, the panel is always available - wherever you are on the page.
3. TOP - You can change the position of the headings panel so it's at the top of the page, static (like it used to be). This isn't as useful as the right and left positions above. However, it's the best option for printing - because it ensures that the headings panel is included in any printout.
The headings panels are done using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) only.
However, a fragment of JavaScript is used to switch to the left and top positions.
We'd be grateful for any comments on this system - including any bugs you come across.
Contact us.
Help
There's help available regarding the 'headings panels' - as follows :
- The information you're now reading - on the "What's new" page
- The popup "tooltip" help when you hover over the "(Click for help) HEADINGS" line - you can try it below
- The more detailed help panel which you get when you click on the "(Click for help) HEADINGS" line - you can try it below
- The site's Help page - the sections on navigation, menus etc
(Click for help) HEADINGS 
<To left: double-click | To right>: refresh | [To top^: drag]
Supplementary notes
Another use for the left position is when part of a web page extends to the right, beyond the normal width - eg with a few images and tables. These extra-wide items are obscured by the headings panel when it's on the right-hand side. However, if you move the panel to the left side, the items will be fully visible.`
To see more of the headings panel :
- If you can't see the bottom of the headings panel, you can see more of it by pressing the F11 key for full-screen view.
- You can change the zoom level in your browser (zooming out) - eg by using the zoom facility on the status bar or by pressing Ctrl -
- Alternatively, you can change to a higher screen resolution - eg 1,024 x 768 pixels.
When the headings panel is on the right or left (ie when it's in one of the two 'fixed' positions), a vertical scroll bar will appear - if the panel is more than around 420 pixels high.
By the way, don't confuse the headings panel with the drop-down menu strip at the top of each web page :
- the headings panel lists the headings on the page you're looking at
- the drop-down menu strip at the top of each page, lists the other pages on the site
Alternative designs
With a few pages, we've added a modified form of fixed headings. Examples :
- "A-Z list of collectors" page
= left and top headings panels only (not right) - as there's an extra-wide table - "Web design, HTML and CSS" page
= right and top panels only (using an iframe and CSS only - as an experiment)
On a couple of pages we've used a different design altogether (a blue drop-down menu strip, using only CSS) :
- "List of organisations and resources" (LOOAR) page
- this is a one-off - it just gives the headings for the sections in the sortable table - "Forced entry by the police for 'saving life or limb' " page
This has both headings systems :- a blue drop-down menu strip, and
- the standard headings-panels (ie right, left and top)
#webdes
309. Forced entry by the police - 'saving life or limb' (eg welfare checks) New page
This is unrelated to the main topics on the CharityBags website.
However, some people may find it useful.
It deals with the law and practical aspects (prevention and cure).
308. Links - Bare A-Z List page
Compiled an up-to-date version of the list.
There are now 1,183 links (URLs) to external sites.
307. 'Static sitemap' page
Improved the explanatory text ('cautionary notes').
Redesigned it - so the sitemap data is a separate file.
This makes it much quicker and easier to update it (so we can update it more frequently).
Added an up-to-date sitemap.
306. Charitable collections: Registers of licences page
Updated and expanded the page.
Added a copy of Ashford Borough Council's register of house-to-house collection licences (2000-2011), together with our comments. The register is an Excel spreadsheet.
Added a copy of Portsmouth City Council's register (1998+) - a spreadsheet.
Added some comments by us.
Added a copy of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's register (2004+).
Added some comments by us.
305. home page =index.htm
Updated and expanded the page - with 30 or so modest changes.
304. www.AirAmbulanceService.org.uk
CharityBags purchased this notorious website (domain name).
This site had been owned by the company called "Air Ambulance Service" - a clothing collection scam.
However, the company was closed down in the High Court by the Government on 2nd Nov 2011, and the domain name subscription wasn't renewed. We bought this vacant website :
- to ensure that it didn't fall into the "wrong hands"
- to allow us to add content to the site, warning people of the scam (and similar scams)
303. A-Z List of clothing collectors page
Improved the Table of Contents (headings) at the top.
Added new sections to the bottom of the page, headed:
- "WARNING ! - confusingly similar names" (with around 20 sets of examples)
- "Odd, interesting and misleading names" (with examples)
Expanded the "Cash for clothes" section (at the bottom of the table)
302. List of prosecutions of collectors page and A-Z List of clothing collectors page
Updated both pages by adding :
- more prosecutions done by NW Leicestershire District Council.
(Our thanks to the Council's Licensing section for supplying the information.) - the prosecution by West Berkshire and Wokingham Trading Standards (of 2 Dec 2011).
Added an 'at-a-glance' summary to Part 1 of the "List of prosecutions" page
- in the form of a table (17 rows, 6 columns).
301. News and snippets page
Added an article called "Councils' diaries of collection licences" - with examples
=registers of "live" licences.
300. A-Z List of clothing collectors page
a) Updated the page (35 hours+) :
- Added new entries - including Against Breast Cancer, Bollin Recycling, "Cash4Clothes", "Cash for Clothing", CHAS, Dragon Recycling Ltd, Gaia Movement (clothing banks), Green World Recycling Ltd (banks), James Hopkins Trust, Rainbows Children's Hospice, Rainbow Trust Children's Charity, Recycling and Management Services Ltd, WWF-UK, Zoe's Place.
- Expanded around 30 existing entries - including air ambulances, Audosta Ltd, Byronswell Ltd, Children's Air Ambulance, Clothes Aid, DB Collections Ltd, Drops of Help, GT Recycling Ltd, The Hand of Help Ltd (THOH), Salvation Army, Second Life Ltd, Vaidaura Ltd.
- Reviewed all 260 entries, TLC, researched, improved the text and layout - eg reduced the use of abbreviations, made the entries more consistent, added bold to key names, added more colour, added searchable regional coding (NE England, NW England, SW England), added more links, added more addresses and registered numbers, added more cross-references, adjusted line breaks and non-breaking spaces so it's easier to read, added more warnings/'bewares'.
- Improved the explanatory/help text above the List.
- The web page is now 41 print-pages (of A4).
b) Added a detailed section (report) on a controversial small charity called "Treating Children with Cancer" (TCWC)
299. List of organisations and resources page
Researched, and added around 30 entries for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - including law, charitable collections
298. Acknowledgements page
Rearranged the page. Added headings and a table of contents. Updated the text.
Improved the table of 'useful software' - added a column called 'Category'.
Added subject codings to it - to allow sorting by category.
297. "Links : List of organisations and key to abbreviations" page
- now renamed: "List of organisations and resources"
Rewrote and expanded the explanatory help text above (and below) the list.
Added more entries (there are now approx 350), expanded the existing entries.
Improved the implementation of the Table Filter utility.
Improved subject keywords - to allow better searching, table-filtering and sorting by users.
Renamed the Category column - to Status.
Added a new column called Subject - to allow sorting by subject.
Fine-tuned the classification and coding used in this column.
The table is now the site's classified (=subject) list - as well as the A-Z list.
Added a new column called Type.
Adding images - including logos.
Removing links to the superseded page called "Useful links" (classified list)
296. A-Z List of collectors page
Rewrote parts of the explanatory text above the List - eg "Where do I find information...".
Coded dissolved companies (with bold, colour and highlighting in the Notes column) and standardised the entries
Coded prosecutions (with highlighting).
Added entries for more collectors - eg Audosta Ltd, Mercy Ships, ADG Service Ltd.
There are now 215 entries.
295. Table Filter utility
This JavaScript utility provides an interactive, database-like facility for lists/tables.
Added it to the tops of tables on more pages.
It's now used on :
- the A-Z List of collectors page (and the bugs have now been sorted out)
- the Acknowledgements page (the table of software)
- the History of clothing collections page (timeline) - a 1-column table
- the List of organisations and Resources page
Upgraded the software to version 2.0.
Added more options and features - eg highlighting, count of number of rows shown, clear-filter button, zebra-striping of rows, colouring around filter-entry boxes (CSS), sorting, case-insensitive sorting.
Improved and standardised the explanatory help text above each filter-table (using an SSI).
Added more examples of useful filter text (and re-sorts) - bespoked to each table.
Adjusted data/entries to allow better filtering (eg by adding more subject coding and standardised vocabulary).
#webdes
294. Companies and company information - New page
293. History of clothing collections
Revised the page. Expanded the hash "#" search/indexing terms.
Converted the list to an HTML table (of one column).
Inserted an 'HTML Table Filter' search box at the top of the table.
#webdes
292. Web design - New page
Some thoughts, hints, tips etc - on HTML, CSS and the like
#webdes
291. Acts and Regulations =law
- Rewrote parts of the page, expanded it
- Added a new section at the top, giving a summary of the Acts and Regulations mentioned on the website
290. Plain English - New page
289. xStatistics:markers (searchable)
Began checking each web page on the site for mentions of statistics.
Then, with each mention, we're adding a searchable, prominent coloured marker (example above). See the Statistics page for more on this.
288. Statistics - New page
287. Alan Stanton's photos (and text) on flickr - gallery of clothing collection leaflets - New article
286. Misuse of '.org.uk' web addresses - New page
On the misleading use of .org.uk suffixes by some commercial companies (especially clothing collectors). It includes :
- a section on Nominet and their rules (T&Cs)
- our suggestions for tightening up the rules
Submitted a formal request to Nominet UK - suggesting they tighten their rules.
285. Fake collection leaflets and bags - and impersonation - New article
eg Azzara/Do Not Delay and Breakthrough Breast Cancer
284. List of prosecutions of collectors
Revised and expanded the page
Added recent prosecutions by Caerphilly Council and East Northamptonshire Council (ENC)
Added pending prosecutions - eg "Air Ambulance Support CIC"
283. Enlarging images by hovering your mouse
Began adding the facility to enlarge some images by hovering your mouse over them
Done using cascading style sheets (rather than JavaScript)
- eg by ".[class] a:hover img {width:XXpx; height:XXpx;}"
Please contact us if you know a better way of doing it
#webdes
282. Launched five new websites :
www.air-ambulance-scams.org.uk
www.air-ambulance-service-scam.org.uk
www.air-ambulance-support-scam.org.uk
These three sites focus on air-ambulance clothing collection scams.
The main site is the "air-ambulance-scams" one.
At present, the other two sites are clones of it.
Currently, each site has only one page (the home page).
They give a summary of the issues - especially advice on how you can stop a misleading collection.
The sites encourage people to visit the more-detailed sections on air-ambulance scams - to be found on the CharityBags website.
The aim is to maximise publicity regarding these scams, so that as few people as possible are misled into donating to these collectors.
www.house-to-house-collections-act-1939.org.uk
- a mini-website dedicated to the House to House Collections Act 1939
www.misleading-bogus-charity-clothing-collection-scam.org.uk
Our thanks to Namesco Ltd for the domain names and the "FirstPage" content facility.
281. "Air Ambulance Service" (AAS), Air Ambulance Service (Trading Co) Ltd (AASTC) and E&N Textiles Ltd - misleading clothing collections
Air Ambulance Support CIC and Air Ambulance Recycling Ltd (AAR)
Expanded/updated these pages - for example :
- Added image of Air Ambulance Service's new leaflet (dated July 2011)
- Added a new section entitled "Subsequent events" - eg on E&N Textiles Ltd
- Added details of new companies and changes of company names
280. Table Filter utility
Added the Table Filter utility (JavaScript) to the tops of tables on some pages
- eg the List of collectors page and the Acknowledgements page
#webdes
279. Acknowledgements page
Expanded the list of software (table)
278. LINKS - bare A-Z list of web addresses on the CharityBags website page
Re-created the list so it's up-to-date (=links to around 600 external
websites/web pages)
- our thanks to Xenu's Link Sleuth (free software)
277. Planet Aid, Humana and Tvind - 'charity' clothing collections controversy page
Expanded the page
276. Emails sent to CharityBags page
Added 10 more emails (anonymised)
275. Charity Retail Association (CRA)
The Association of Charity Shops (ACS) recently changed its name to
"Charity Retail Association" (CRA) `
So we've started updating the website to reflect this
274. Lists of prosecutions of charitable house-to-house collectors - New page
- An annotated list of prosecutions of clothing collectors - with explanatory notes
- A list of prosecutions of collectors - collecting money
- A list of prosecutions for theft of filled clothing collection bags
We've deleted the prosecutions listed on the History (Timeline) page
273. House-to-house collections in the media page
Added a dozen new articles - mainly from The Guardian
272. Regulators of house-to-house collections page
Added a section on the Environment Agency (EA)
- especially the issue of whether collectors need a waste carriers licence (WCL)
271. Charitable collections: Registers of licences page
Added a section on Bury Council's online register of house-to-house licences
(including a screenshot)
270. Collections in the media page
Updated and expanded the Daily Mirror items ("Penman & Sommerlad Investigate")
269. Charitable clothing collections - problems and solutions page
Expanded the page - adding a new section called "General points" at the top
- including a section entitled "Advice to the public" (do's and don'ts)
Revised the existing sections - eg enforcement
268. Our aims - CharityBags - bottom of page
Added a poignant excerpt of dialogue from "Downton Abbey" to help explain our approach
267. Brief history of clothing collections - Timeline
Updated this page - eg added :
- prosecutions by North Yorkshire County Council and Rhondda Council (Dec 2010)
- refusal of licence by Torfaen Council - in respect of Intersecond Ltd / Azzara
- report by Oxfam on house-to-house collections
266. Oakdene Hollins Ltd - research and consultancy
Began adding information on this company and their work
- including their government-funded (DEFRA) reports on maximising re-use and recycling of UK clothing and textiles `
265. North West Leicestershire District Council - licensing department:
Two prosecutions of unlicensed clothing collectors (28 Jan 2011)
Began adding details of these to the website (eg the history page) `
264. "Air Ambulance Service" (AAS) and "Air Ambulance Service (Trading Co) Ltd" (AASTC) - clothing collections
Added details of the adjudication by the Advertising Standards Authority on a collection leaflet from Air Ambulance Service (Trading Co) Ltd (complaint upheld - 19 January 2011)
263. Alan Stanton's photos (and text) on Flickr - clothing collection leaflets/bags
Began adding details of these to our website `
262. Charity clothing collections: Parliament and politicians
Improved and expanded this page
261. A-Z list of house-to-house clothing collectors
- Researched which companies have been dissolved (or liquidated).
- Added details of this to the page.
- Colour-coded these organisations (column 1
of the table) - around 50 so far.
260. Clothing collections: Myths and misunderstandings exposed - New page
This has some similarity with an FAQs page
259. KnowHow NonProfit (KHNP)
Added a section to the 'News and snippets' page - describing this website *
258. Campaigns and campaigning - New page
257. Helicopter images on the clothing collection leaflets and website of "Air Ambulance Service" (AAS) - New page
Eg the implications for enforcement
256. EasyFundraising [Ltd] - a commercial fundraiser for good causes (eg charities) - New page
They operate a cashback (click-through) system for online purchases
255. Air ambulance organisations - an introduction - New page
On air ambulance organisations - genuine and bogus.
= our 4th page so far on air ambulances.
254. "Air Ambulance Support" (Community Interest Company) - New page
Clothing collector - based in Birmingham
(Note: Don't confuse with "Air Ambulance Service" below.)
253. Newspaper articles, websites etc commenting on "Air Ambulance Service" (AAS) and "Air Ambulance Service (Trading Co) Ltd" (AASTC) - New page
A modern version of an "annotated bibliography".
So far, it occupies around 14 pages when printed out.
252. "Air Ambulance Service" (AAS) and AASTC - clothing collections - New page
Misleading "charitable" clothing collections.
251. Web design - Cascading Style Sheets version 3 =CSS3
CSS3
Are my corners rounded?
moz
Are my corners rounded?
Experimenting with adding some CSS3 features
- eg rounded corners using
- If the grey panel to the right has rounded corners, then your browser
recognises "border-radius" - so it's
CSS3-aware (eg MS Internet Explorer 9+). - If the green panel to the right has rounded corners, then your browser recognises "
-moz-border-radius" . This usually means you're using Mozilla Firefox (a recent version). - Alas, Microsoft says it has no plans to incorporate CSS3 in Internet Explorer 8. So users of Windows XP (like us) can't see CSS3 features unless they switch to other browsers.
#webdes
250. Who regulates house-to-house collections?
Updated the page.
The Office of Fair Trading section: Added a section on the control of misleading advertisements.
Added explanatory comments to the List of headings at the top of the page.
249. Prosecution of Nicholas Rees (clothing collector) by Birmingham City Council (Licensing Dept) in 2004 - New page
Includes details of an undertaking given by the collector to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) under the "Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988".
Researched the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations, CPRs and
BPRs.
Added a section on them to The regulators
page (the section on the OFT).
248. LICENSING REGIMES - in different fields
Modest improvements - eg added colour-coding to the Institute of Licensing's list of 54 licensing regimes
247. USEFUL LINKS (organisations, websites, books, magazines etc)
Updated and expanded the page - and the "Useful links" sections of all topic pages (see item 195. below).
246. Brief history of clothing collections - Timeline
Improved and expanded the page (by 100%). Updated it. Added more images.
Added searchable "#" keywords.
245. Navigation - Drop-down menus (at the top of most pages)
Improvements - including:
- Adjustments to wording, emboldening, colour-coding, order etc
- Increased the prominence of the two core headings
("Collections" and "Examples of collections") - "Examples of collections": Re-arranged the collectors so they're in A-Z order
- "Examples of collections": Added new heading: "Press releases, newspaper articles etc"
- Moved "Site help & Sitemap" to the right-hand end
#webdes
244. Homepage of the website
Improved and expanded it. Updated entries (eg Cabinet Office, Age UK).
Substituted a new leaflet image (coloured). Changed some background colours.
243. Emails to CharityBags
Added 15 new emails to this page (anonymised)
242. Abolition of the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) (part of the Cabinet Office)
Changed all mentions of this department to "the Cabinet Office"
(eg regarding national Exemption Orders - NEOs)
241. Some links to the CharityBags website
Updated the page - eg added the House of Commons Briefing Paper on collections, House of Commons debate on bogus clothing collections, Metropolitan Police SNT, Judith Potts (Daily Telegraph), more blogs and forums.
Added a table of contents to the top of the page.
240. Links - bare A-Z list
= a list of all the links (on the CharityBags site) to other websites
Created a new (up-to-date) list from scratch. The number of links has increased by 70%.
239. A selection of clothing collectors (A-Z) - New page
- So far, it includes around 35 images of collection leaflets and bags.
- Improved the A-Z "Headings on this page" section at the top, so it includes cross-references to the site's dedicated pages on individual collectors.
- With some images, added a copy of the wording as typed text (so it's searchable etc).
238. A-Z list of clothing collectors
Existing entries: Improved/enlarged.
New entries: Expanded the list of collectors by around 40%, including the latest
ASA adjudications, and various Irish entries.
New section: Added an A-Z section to the foot of the table
- on clothing (etc) collection banks.
Layout: Widened the A-Z table to approx 770 pixels.
Improved the layout by switching to CSS for cell padding.
237. Exeter City Council (Devon) - register of collection licences 1997-2010
- New page
Plus a copy of the Council's register of licences (1997-2010) =12 annual Lists (MS Word ".doc" files)
236. Breakthrough Breast Cancer (charity) - clothing collections - New page
235. How to tell if a clothing collection is genuine - New page
234. 1. Delivering leaflets and bags 2. Collecting the bags - New page
233. Collections - The Hand of Help Ltd and Kaunas Disabled from Birth - New page
232. Charity clothing collections: Parliament and politicians - New page
Speeches, questions etc - eg by Jo Swinson MP, Jeff Ennis MP
231. 0870 and 0871 non-geographic telephone rates
Revised and updated the page, including :
- the recent addition of 0870 numbers to 'inclusive' call packages
- the categorisation of 0871 numbers as premium rate (from 1 August 2009)
230. Google
Registered with Google Webmaster. Added the CharityBags website and a sitemap
#webdes
229. Static sitemap page
Updated the Static sitemap to incorporate all new web pages.
Improved the Introduction.
Note:
- It's only needed by people without JavaScript enabled.
- Everyone else can use the Popup sitemap - see the foot of any page.
#webdes
228. Links - bare A-Z list
= a list of all the links (on the CharityBags site) to other websites
Created a new (up-to-date) list from scratch.
Improved the Introduction.
227. Collection leaflet (flyer): 'Collectors of the third world'
Added a section entitled: 'Our comments' - analysing the leaflet (eg 'is it charitable?')
226. Charity law reforms (and the Charities Act 2006)
Rewrote the last section ('Collections and the 2006 Act' onwards).
Colour-coded the current and new regimes.
225. Law - Acts and Regulations
Revised and expanded the page
224. Bogus clothing collections - article by a district council licensing department
Improved the page - especially the explanation at the end
223. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and clothing collections - New page
Eg ASA adjudications concerning misleading collections
222. Who regulates house-to-house collections?
Improved the page
221. The law on house-to-house collections
Improving the page. Reduced duplication.
Moving details to new dedicated pages - eg charitable versus non-charitable.
220. A clothing collection: Does it need a licence? Is it charitable? . . . and misleading 'hybrid' collections - New page
Eg 'charitable' versus 'non-charitable'
219. House-to-House collections - National Exemption Orders - 'New' page
Re-wrote the page from scratch, expanded it , added images.
Page now has user-friendly questions as headings - eg Why...? Who...? Where...?
218. Collections licensing - monitoring and enforcement - New page
217. Collections licensing - registers - New page
216. Collections licensing -applications - New page
215. Emails to CharityBags - New page
A guide to the sorts of emails we receive (suitably anonymised to respect your privacy)
214. Clothing - some trends - New page
Eg fashions, materials, manufacture, retailing, prices, charity shops
213. Collections by E&C Export Ltd on behalf of 'Second Chance' (charity) - New page
212. Prosecution of E&C Export Ltd - New page
Prosecution of the company by Cardiff Council (21 May 2009) for undertaking unlicensed charitable house-to-house collections (for clothes) - allegedly on behalf of the Children's Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) (a Leeds NHS charity)
211. A brief history of clothing collections - New page
A timeline. 1853 to the present day
210. Government page
Added a section on QUANGOs and Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs)
209. Clothing collections in the media - New page
- Television and radio - details of some programmes which have dealt with clothing collections
- Newspapers and magazines - details of some articles which have dealt with clothing collections
- The Internet
208. Freedom of Information page
Added a section on the 'WhatDoTheyKnow.com' website
207. Charity shops page
Added a section on the Irish Charity Shops Association (ICSA) [covers Eire] - including the "Scambusters" school project
206. List of some house-to-house clothing collectors (A-Z)
Redesigned the page. Improved and expanded the existing entries.
Added around 30 new collectors, including 9 adjudications by the ASA.
205. Some links to the CharityBags website - New page
204. Intersecond Ltd (collector), Azzara (Lithuanian charity) and 'Do Not Delay!' (cancer project) - New page
203. Licensing regimes page
Added a section on the Institute of Licensing, including a copy of their list of 54 licensing regimes
202. What's new page =this page
Revamped, improved
201. House to House Collections Act 1939
Amended the site to reflect the appearance of the full text of the 1939 Act
on the Government's OPSI and Statute Law Database websites
- see House
to House Collections Act 1939 - Introduction by CharityBags
200. Help page: Navigation - searching section
Added a section on Fanix 'Hilitext' - a utility program
199. Renamed pages - redirection 
Added token pages with the names of old (renamed) pages. These redirect visitors to the new page. This avoids unhelpful 'Page not found' error messages.
#webdes
198. Homepage
Improved - eg added a new row of items to the foot of the table
197. General sources of information - New page
196. Filenames and titles of pages
Reviewed and improved the filenames of pages on the website
Improved the titles of pages
(the 'title' is the content of the HTML <title> tag; it's displayed on the top
bar of a browser)
#webdes
195. Added a 'Useful links' section to the ends of the 'topic' pages listed below :
Charities
Charity cards
Charity shops
Consumer issues
Help
Freedom of information (FoI) and data protection
Government - four sections
Information - four sections
Law - two sections
Problems with regulators
Regulators
Re-use and recycling
In each case, the section is identical to the corresponding one on the Useful links page.
Note: Each of the 19 'links' sections above is now in a 'server-side include'
(SSI) file, which is inserted into the topic page and the Useful links page
when you browse. So (mercifully) we only have to update each section in one
place (even though it appears on two pages). We're told it's a primitive way of
doing it, but it works.
Example: The SSI file comprising the Charity shops Useful links section,
is used by :
- the Charity shops page - for its Useful links section, and
- the Useful links page - for its section on charity shops
#webdes
194. Useful links page - improved
193. Consumer issues - New page
192. Law - New page
191. Textile recycling - New page
190. Planet Aid (clothing collector), Humana and Tvind - New page
Including details of a BBC Radio 4 programme on these organisations ('Face the Facts'), and information on Humana Alert / Tvind Alert
189. Clothing collections: Theft of bags - New page
188. The Association of Charity Shops (ACS) - New page
187. Collection leaflets, bags and labels - New page
Notes on their form - size, shape, materials etc (not their content =wording etc)
186. Clothes Aid - New page
Clothing collection company. A commercial partner working with charities
185. Just Help Foundation - registered charity - New page
Unlicensed charitable collection, with picture of leaflet
184. http://ClothingCollection.org : A website 'exposing fake clothing collection charities' - New page
Our description of this Irish website/blog
183. Navigation - Drop-down menus (at the top of most pages)
Menu items: Improved their wording, order, grouping, icons etc
Created a new main (top-level) menu heading called "Charities"
Moved to it, the 6 charity items currently under the heading called "General"
#webdes
182. Government - New page
A brief guide to government - central and local
181. Navigation - The two versions of the Sitemap
- Popup sitemap: Made it more prominent than the Static sitemap
Corrected bugs, made it load quicker - Static sitemap: (only needed if you don't have JavaScript enabled)
Reduced the number of links to it :
- Removed its links from all page footers and the drop-down menus
- Sole links to it now are in the headers (hidden from JavaScript-enabled users)
- Updated the static sitemap and improved the notes at the top of it - Amended the explanatory section on sitemaps on the Help page
- Improved the automatic layout of the sitemaps - eg so the 6 main headings stand out
#webdes
180. Freedom of information (FoI) and open government, and data protection page
Improved and expanded the page
179. Flyer mid-2004 - collection by 'Collectors of the third world'
Added it to the drop-down menus (under the heading 'Examples of collections - Dubious...')
(previously omitted it in error)
178. Pages made fixed-width
Changed most pages to fixed-width (most now 590 pixels) - to keep the layout
unchanged at higher screen resolutions :
- line lengths stay the same (reasonable lengths)
- the layout of pages isn't distorted
#webdes
177. Charities and honesty - New page
- Issues of integrity, efficiency, scrutiny etc
- 'Pretend' (bogus) charities
176. News and snippets - New page
An informal miscellany of short items
Its contents are changed frequently
175. 0870 and 0871 non-geographic telephone rates - New page
174. Scams, cons etc - New page
- Scams etc in general [not specifically charities]
173. www.headington.org.uk - "Charity" clothes collections page - New page
Our description and summary of their page
172. Charity shops page
In response to a request for information, from a national newspaper :
- Updated the statistics (prices of goods, number of UK shops, turnover, costs, % profits etc)
- Added a section on the benefits of charity shops
- Expanded the section on the Association of Charity Shops (ACS)
- Miscellaneous improvements
171. Definitions page
- Improved the page
- Added/moved definitions from other pages of the site
- Added new entries - eg 'third sector', 'commercial'
170. Help page
Rewrote and re-organised the page
Decided which sections were :
- Specific information about this website, or
- General information on using any website (hints and tips etc)
Deleted some sections - eg display colour-depth, CSS
Added some new sections - eg on JavaScript
#webdes
169. Disclaimer page
Added a section on Generalisations
168. Donations and types of house-to-house collections page
Improved and expanded it
Renamed it to: 'Choosing the best way to donate your clothes'
Added two new sections :
- Introduction
- Theft and house-to-house collections of clothes (and cash)
167. The law relating to house-to-house collections page
Updated and re-organised the page. Added a plain-English summary near the top. Redrafted existing sections.
166. Improved appearance of the site
eg changed: default font, font weights (in headings), some backgrounds
#webdes
165. List of 'Holders of [national] Orders of Exemption'
Informed by the Government's Office of the Third Sector (OTS) that their website now includes
Accordingly :
- Added links to this OTS page
- Deleted our similar page listing the 43 charities holding national Exemption Orders, and the three related pages
- New page: National
Exemption Orders page - our introduction to :
- the national Exemption Orders scheme
- the List of national Exemption Orders
Our thanks to the OTS for their help.
164. Home Office, Cabinet Office (Office of the Third Sector) and Exemption Orders
Changed the website to reflect the transfer of departmental responsibility for charities :
- from the Home Office
- to the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) (part of the Cabinet Office)
Exemption Orders (concerning charitable house-to-house collections) :
- deleted mentions of 'Home Office Exemption Orders' (HOEOs)
- replaced them with 'national Exemption Orders' (NEOs)
163. Charity law reforms page and related pages
Added a section on the Charities Act 2006, including the changes soon (?) to be made to the regulation of house-to-house (and street) collections
162. Images - About images - New page
Created by moving the sections on images to it - from the Acknowledgements, Copyright and Help pages.
161. Images - Added new images to the site, courtesy of www.FreeImages.co.uk
eg additions to the Charities page.
See also the About images page
#webdes
160. Problems and solutions page - expanded and updated
eg added a section on the List of charities with national Exemption Orders
159. Links/list pages - improved and simplified :
- 1. Useful links page (classified list) -
New page :
- Entries arranged under 20 or so subject headings
- Almost all external links mentioned on the website are included on this page
- Added some printed sources of information
- Replaces the 'Useful sources of information' page/sections below,
amalgamating the information into one list
- 'Useful sources of information' page and sections (classified lists) :
- 'Useful sources of information' page :
- Deleted the page, after transferring the information to the 'Useful links' page - 'Useful sources of information' sections on seven pages
(Charities, Charity shops, Charity cards, FoI, Recycling etc) :
- Shortened the sections, transferring most entries to the 'Useful links' page
- 'Useful sources of information' page :
- 2. A-Z list of organisations
and key to abbreviations page :
- Updating so the entries more-or-less match those on the 'Useful links' page
- Transferred notes on organisations to the 'Useful links' page
(to avoid duplication)
- 3. Links - bare A-Z list page
(formerly called 'Web links' page) :
- Updated to ensure that all external links mentioned on the website are included on this page
158. Images from SCRAN
Added new images to the site, courtesy of SCRAN (a Scottish educational
charity) - eg additions to the Help page
See the About images page
157. Charity shops page
- Expanded the section on donating books - including advice on cleaning and repairing books
- Added photographs of charity shops (courtesy of Oxfam)
156. Homepage (index.htm)
- Removed the section entitled 'Our aims' - transferring it to a New page called Aims . Improved the Aims page
- Added a multi-colour welcome table to the homepage, with annotated links to various pages, plus some images
155. The Charity Commission's report on clothing collections - New pages
- Report by the Charity Commission: 'Charity and door-to-door clothing collections'
- Report by the Charity Commission: 'Charity and door-to-door clothing collections' - Introduction by CharityBags
154. Law - Acts and Regulations page
Expanded the page
Moved the section on the waiving of Crown Copyright by HMSO
to the Copyright page
153. 'Law on collections' page - split it to form three pages :
- The law on house-to-house collections
- The law on street collections New page
- Comparison of the law on house-to-house collections with street collections New page
152. Navigation - Sitemap
Added a sitemap. This uses the data contained in the new drop-down menus.
Two versions of the sitemap are provided :
- a popup sitemap - resembles a frames arrangement. Uses JavaScript
- a static sitemap - a recent snapshot of the popup sitemap above. New page
A standard web page. Doesn't use JavaScript
See Help for more information
Deleted the 'Site Index' page and references to it
#webdes
151. Navigation - Drop-down menus
- Added drop-down menus (which use JavaScript) to most pages of the site - to improve navigation
- See Help for more information
#webdes
150. Licensing regimes page - expanded
Added new sections and more examples
149. Navigation - External links
Changed the suffix symbol used to indicate external links (ie links to other websites)
Example :
Charity Commission
#webdes
148. Acknowledgements - New page
Created by moving to it, the acknowledgements section of the homepage
147. Help page - Navigation section
Added new items, including:
- how to open a new (second) browser window
- using a scroll-mouse
- using the Opera browser for its Links facilities
#webdes
146. Navigation - Added a site search facility (PicoSearch)
A search box is at the foot of most pages. See Help for more information
#webdes
145. Organisations - Updated various entries
eg ASA, Which?, BBC Watchdog, direct.gov.uk, Charity Commission
144. Re-use and recycling page
Added references to the Textile Recycling Association (TRA) and ENCAMS
143. List of some house-to-house collectors - New page
A-Z table of about 35 collectors so far.
Includes comments, and states which have been subject to ASA adjudications.
142. ABC1 charity collections page
Revised the page
141. Applied Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to the website
- Gives a more consistent appearance to the site (fonts, headings, layout etc)
- Adds extra facilities not available in plain HTML
- Makes updating easier/more reliable
#webdes
140. List of charities with national Exemption Orders - Our introduction page
Made changes to the page
139. Useful sources of information page
- Re-organised the page
- Added an introduction
- Added more entries - eg directories
138. Law - Acts and Regulations - New page
Eg waiving of Crown copyright; how to see Acts and Regulations
137. Freedom of information (FoI) and open government - New page
136. Problems with regulators - New page
Including information on complaints procedures and ombudsmen
135. Donations and collections page
Added a new section at the bottom, headed:
"Regulating collections - licences, enforcement etc"
134. The law relating to charitable collections page
- Revamped the page
- Added new sections including :
- "Charitable" versus "charity"
- Non-charitable versus charitable collections
- The wording of flyer leaflets
- Dealing with unlicensed (eg bogus) charitable collections - monitoring, investigation, enforcement, prosecution etc
- A comparison of the law on house-to-house collections with street collections (a table)
- Useful sources of information
- South Northants Council's local Regulations (MS Word): added a copy in HTML format New page
133. Navigation - Added a 'table of contents' (TOC) to the top of most pages
Each is located below the page heading, above the body text.
They're currently entitled "Headings on this page:"
#webdes
132. Watch out for bogus charities - warning by a district council's licensing department page (article in council's magazine)
Added a section entitled "Our comments" below the article
131. House-to-house charity collectors selling donations at car boot sales page (newspaper article)
Added a section entitled "Our comments" below the article
130. Donating to charity? Are you certain? 'Be cautious' is council's advice - New page
Article in local newspaper:
Collection by Kosta Ltd / "H.K.L Charity"
A recent bogus collection, with a photo of the leaflet and comments by us
129. Charity shops page
"Useful sources of information" section:
Entry for Association of Charity Shops (ACS):
Updated contact information - new address, telephone numbers, website etc
(Our thanks to ACS for emailing us.)
Added sections on: books, magazines
128. Navigation - Site Index page
Split the final (7th) section (headed "The CharityBags website") into two, as follows:
- Using the CharityBags website (=Help etc)
- CharityBags (=About us, Aims, Contact us etc)
127. About us - New page
A guide to who we are, the status of CharityBags, funding, its origins etc
126. Images - Added "ALT" tags
(ie alternative) descriptive text to most images. Helps accessibility - eg people who are browsing using text-only mode.
#webdes
125. Charity law reforms - New page
The Government's proposals for reforming charity law. Includes details of reports, with quotations. One report is just on charity collections (a gem)
124. Licensing regimes - New page
Information on some other licensing/regulatory regimes
123. Disclaimer page
- Revamped
- Expanded the section on "Draft" status
- Added a section on Law
122.
House to House Collections Act 1939 - our introduction - New page
House to House Collections Act 1939 - all pages - New page
= A scanned copy of the Act. = 11 images
Had a second session on this:
- Added a new web page which contains all the Act's pages. This allows scrolling through all the pages seamlessly.
- Added the remaining pages of the Act (p6-9)
- Corrected the faulty image of page 5 of the Act
121. Homepage (index.htm)
Redesigned - eg smaller, less cluttered
120. 'Useful sources of information' page
Added 'A-Z list of the links on this page to other websites'
= New section at bottom of the page
119. Organisations - HMSO and The Stationery Office (TSO)
Clarified the distinctions between the two organisations - eg on the page entitled 'Useful sources of information'
118. Flyer delivered late 2003 page
Expanded the introduction which analyses the flyer's wording
117. Help page
- Revamped the sections on Display, Navigation and Printing
- Added 'Key points' (=summary) at top
- Added screen resolution detection, eg 800x600 (uses JavaScript) - New page
116. Definitions of some relevant words page
- New section (Introduction) on stopping unlicensed collections - the issue of 'charitable purpose', and versus 'charity' collections
- Added more definitions, improved page
115. List of organisations and key to abbreviations used on this website - New page
A-Z with categories, notes and links
114. Bogus charity collectors fined - New page
Press release by South Northamptonshire Council (SNC), announcing successful prosecution of 'Third World Recycling' - and our comments
113. Charity shops page - Computer software
= New section
112. Regulators page - 1. Licensing departments of local authorities
Update regarding 'who does what' - confirming that licensing
departments are responsible for enforcement of unlicensed charitable collections
(outside London) rather than the police.
=Amended section
111. Images - added more
eg to Charity shops page
110. Navigation - Site Index page
- Colour-coding added to the backgrounds of main sections to make it easier to use.
- Made top of the page 2-column so the list of headings used is visible without having to scroll down.
- Addition of logos, icons and other visual cues on the right-hand side.
#webdes
109. What's new? - New page
= this page
108. Donations and collections page
Added a new section entitled :
"2. Taking your unwanted goods to a recycling/re-use centre"
Inserted the section between :
- Taking your unwanted goods direct to a charity shop (the best option), and
- Using house-to-house collections
107. House to House Collections Act 1939 - our introduction and related pages - New pages
= 13 web pages
106. Leaflet (and bag): "Collectors of the third world" - New page
A dubious collection
105. Leaflet (flyer): "Business reg. no. 4219916" - New page
Collection of unwanted clothes for Eastern Europe "... to be sold at a charitable price".
Dubious collection.
104. Navigation - Links in headers and footers
Added, improved and standardised navigation links at top and bottom of most pages
#webdes
103. Regulators of house-to-house collections - New page
"Who does what?" - Local council licensing departments, the police, trading standards, Home Office, OFT, Charity Commission, ASA etc
102. Help - New page
Help and advice on viewing the site, printing out etc.
Moved: Was part of Homepage. Now is a standalone page.
(Previous items deleted)
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