Charitable clothing collections :
Collections by E&C Export Ltd on behalf of 'Second Chance' (charity)

Headings on this page :

'Second Chance' - a children's charity based in Portsmouth (Hampshire)
E&C Export Ltd - a clothing collection company, based in Dagenham (Essex)
Collections by E&C Export Ltd on behalf of 'Second Chance' (charity)
- Images of a bag from E&C Export Ltd (referring to Second Chance charity) - distributed October 2009
- Illegal collections
Prosecution of E&C Export Ltd - by Cardiff Council, 21 May 2009
Related pages on our website

'Second Chance' (charity)

Founded 1984
Based in Portsmouth, Hampshire
Registered charity number: 1001462
Charity's website: www.second-chance.org.uk

The charity helps disadvantaged young people.

The charity is genuine. Judging by the information on its website, it's carrying out worthwhile projects.

Note - name: Do not confuse this charity with 15 other registered charities in England and Wales which have the phrase 'Second Chance' in their name. For example there's the 'Second Chance Animal Trust' (SCAT) in Norwich (Norfolk), whose web address is www.secondchance.org.uk (registered charity no 1057960). This is the same web address as the (unrelated) Portsmouth charity above, apart from a hyphen.

See the Charity Commission's website for more details.

E&C Export Ltd (clothing collection company)

Details from their website :

Postal address: E&C Export Ltd, PO Box 896, Dagenham, Essex RM9 9HN
Tel: 020 8517 1060
Website: www.ecexport.com

Details from Companies House website :

Name of company: E & C Export Ltd
Registered Office: 115 Fanshawe Crescent, Dagenham, Essex RM9 5DS
Date of incorporation: 17 December 2007
Company registration no: 06455034
Nature of Business (SIC(03)): 5142 - Wholesale of clothing and footwear

What happens to the clothing?

Clothing collected by the company in the UK is exported - especially to Eastern Europe. It's sold commercially.

Collections by E&C Export Ltd on behalf of 'Second Chance' (charity)

As at October 2009, E&C Export Ltd were conducting clothing collections in England on behalf of a registered charity called 'Second Chance'.

Collection bags: The orange plastic envelope enclosing the collection bag gave details of :

Second Chance (including its registered charity number and website), and
E&C Export Ltd (on the back).

Images (below) of a bag from E&C Export Ltd (referring to 'Second Chance' charity) - distributed October 2009

Front of clothing collection bag from E&C Export Ltd / Second Chance (charity)

Back of clothing collection bag from E&C Export Ltd / Second Chance (charity)

Jewellery: On the back of the bag, the list of items requested included jewellery. This is surprising - because normally partner-charities (and licensing authorities) don't allow collectors to ask for jewellery donations, because :

The charity rarely gets an adequate % proportion of the proceeds.
Jewellery in collection bags is especially vulnerable to theft or fraud.

Illegal collections

Under the House to House Collections Act 1939, these collections require a licence - because they're for a charitable purpose. Licences have to be obtained (in advance) from the licensing department of each local council where the collections take place.

However (at October 2009) E&C Export Ltd were collecting without licences.

Local council licensing officers are reminding people that collecting without a licence is a criminal offence. They're asking the public to contact them urgently if they receive any of the collection leaflets or bags, or see the collections taking place.

Role of the charity: Licensing officers have pointed out that the charity concerned ('Second Chance') has a responsibility for ensuring that collections carried out in its name are properly licensed.

Prosecution of E&C Export Ltd

E&C Export Ltd - the company carrying out the collections for 'Second Chance' - has a chequered history.

The company used to collect clothes for the Children's Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) - a registered charity in Leeds. The charity disassociated itself from E&C Export Ltd in November 2008.

Two months later (on 28 January 2009) the licensing department of Cardiff Council (South Wales) intercepted an illegal charitable clothing collection operated by E&C Export Ltd. They were using CHSF bags, and they were operating without a licence (an offence under the House to House Collections Act 1939). The Council successfully prosecuted E&C Export Ltd for this - the company was fined £750 in Cardiff magistrates' court on 21 May 2009.

For more on this see :

the page called Prosecution of E&C Export Ltd
the relevant page on Cardiff Council's website (in the 'News archive' section) :
www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2874,4202,4203&parent_directory_id=2865&id=8592&Language=

Charitable collection law :
The law on charitable house-to-house collections - eg licensing, enforcement, prosecution
A-Z list of some house-to-house clothing collectors
Clothing collections in the media
Pages in the 'Examples of collections' section of the drop-down menus at the top of each page.

Charitable clothing collections :Collections by E&C Export Ltd on behalf of 'Second Chance' (charity)