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Collection leaflet (flyer):
'Collectors of the third world'

Headings on this page :

Copy of the leaflet
Our comments on the leaflet
- Who are the collectors?
- Where are they based?
- How can you contact them?
- Is it a 'charitable' collection?
  1. The picture on the leaflet
  2. Key wording
  3. Will the clothes be given to these people or will they be sold?
  4. Points in support of categorising it as a charitable collection
  5. Points in support of categorising it as a non-charitable collection
  6. Conclusions - it's charitable, unlicensed and illegal
  7. Recycling
- What do they want to collect?
- Writing style/English

A5-sized leaflet - black and red ink on white paper
- with plain blue plastic sack and rubber band
Delivered mid 2004.

Notes :

We've removed the last digits of the mobile phone number from the bottom of the image.
This is a black-and-white reproduction.

Copy of the leaflet

Clothing collection leaflet - 'Collectors of the third world'

Our comments on the leaflet

Who are the collectors?

It's unclear. The only information is the final line :

'Collectors of the third world would like to say thank-you . . . we are a re-cycling business.'

This implies they're called 'Collectors of the third world' and they're a business. This is in the smallest type size on the leaflet (at the bottom).

There's no mention of any company registration number or 'Ltd'.

Where are they based?

No information given.

How can you contact them?

Contact details : None - except a mobile phone number (07761 . . .).

No postal address
No web address or email address
No landline telephone number.

Is it a 'charitable' collection?

This is the crucial question.

See the following pages for more on what's a 'charitable' collection - and why it matters :

Law on house-to-house collections - on the 1939 Act
'Does it need a collection licence? - Is it charitable?'

The picture on the leaflet

Children - in the third world presumably.

Key wording

'HELP HELP HELP . . .
THE THIRD WORLD . . .
The clothing that is collected from you kind and caring people. . . is made available for the people in the most poorest [sic] and underdeveloped countries. . . . let them have some of the things we take for granted. . . . These people struggle against poverty and hunger . . .
you are helping an adult or child to survive.'

Will the clothes be given to these people or will they be sold?

'The clothing . . . is made available for the people' [line 12]

The leaflet's vague on this, but it more-or-less implies the clothes will be given to the needy.

Points in support of categorising it as a 'charitable' collection

References to people who'll receive the clothes include :

'poorest and underdeveloped countries . . . poverty and hunger . . . survive' etc.

References to people who'll give the clothes :

'you kind and caring people . . . feel good with yourselves as you are helping . . .'

The gist of the wording is just what you'd expect on a leaflet from a charity like Oxfam or Save the Children.

Points in support of categorising it as a 'non-charitable' collection

A couple :

In the final line (in the smallest print on the leaflet) they say:
'. . . we are a re-cycling business.'
There's no mention of the words 'charity' or 'charitable' or 'donate'.

Conclusions

It's a typical misleading 'hybrid' clothing collection. In other words :

They're giving householders the impression that it's charitable.
But in reality it's a business.

In our opinion (on balance) it's purporting to be 'charitable' - in other words (overall) it gives the appearance of being conducted for a charitable purpose.

So, it needed a collection licence from the local council (under the House to House Collections Act 1939). But it didn't have a licence. So it was illegal.

There are similarities with the leaflet which was the subject of a successful prosecution by South Northamptonshire Council (using the 1939 Act). The collectors were called 'Third world recycling'.

Also there are close similarities with collection leaflets which have been the subject of upheld complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). See the ASA's adjudications.

Also see the page: 'Does it need a licence?' - the section on 'hybrid' collections.

Recycling

The leaflet refers to recycling, but the main emphasis is on helping people in the third world.

What do they want to collect?

The usual items, except the list includes old mobile phones - which is unusual.

Writing style/English

Lynne Truss would be horrified :

Eccentric hyphenation and punctuation, delicious use of upper-case initial letters.
Misspelling - fell' not 'feel' (nine lines from the bottom).

These features are a good indicator of a misleading collection.
(You can identify many 'phishing' emails in the same way.)

Collection leaflet (flyer):'Collectors of the third world'