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Clothing collections in the media

Headings on this page :

Introduction

Most of the items below concern clothing collections.  

However, we've included a few items on related issues such as charity shops, and street collections for cash.

Television

BBC1 - 'Inside Out' - Wednesday 24 September 2008 - 15 minutes

Investigation of unlicensed charity clothing collections - eg by the Children's Welfare Foundation (CWF)

BBC1 - 'Watchdog' - 7pm Wednesday 20 November 2002 - 11 minutes

Investigation of bogus "charity" clothing collections - eg by 'Gotham'

media_bbc_watchdog_bogus_charity_clothing_collections_by_gotham_201102.shtml

BBC2 - 'Mary queen of [charity] shops' - several series in 2008 and 2009

Presented by retail expert Mary Portas.

Ms Portas gave hands-on advice to charity shops in an effort to boost their image and their sales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8082955.stm  

Radio

BBC Radio 4 - 'Face the Facts' - Friday 22 August 2008

Results of an investigation into dubious "charity" clothing collections being made by Planet Aid (in conjunction with Humana and the Tvind Teachers Group (TG))

clothing_collections/clothing_collections_planet_aid_humana_tvind.shtml

National newspapers

'Scam: the A&P leaflet' - clothing collection (our thanks to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper)

Article in The Sunday Telegraph - Sunday 18 November 2007 - by Andrea Perry

'How charity clothes line Lithuanian pockets'

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1569695/How-charity-clothes-line-Lithuanian-pockets.html  

Includes information on :

The Guardian - Saturday 4 August 2007 - Money news & features section - page 8
'Capital Letters: Tony Levene fights for your consumer rights'

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/aug/04/moneysupplement3  

First item:  'Is children's charity going from my rags to riches?' :

a) Letter from RA, London - querying a clothing collection leaflet from Children's Welfare Foundation (charity)

b) Response from The Guardian's Tony Levene (seven paragraphs) :

The Guardian - Saturday 25 August 2007 - Money news & features section - page 3

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/aug/25/moneysupplement.voluntarysector  

Extract :

"Charity cheats laid bare - by you
Outraged readers were quick to get in touch after we exposed
bogus collectors who sell donated clothing. Tony Levene reports

Guardian Money readers have written to us in their thousands after our
exposure last week of the murky world of bogus collectors who deprive
legitimate charities of millions of pounds a year.
Readers also sent us flyers from the bogus firms. One of the more
outrageous ones came from Support and Help, which asks people to
"spare any of your unwanted clothes which will be sent to the Third World
where the garments will be carefully sorted and worn again". This . . . "

There follows information on :

Below this, there are 10 letters and emails from readers commenting on the issues.

The Guardian - Friday 5 June 2009 - Comment & features section - page 18
Life & style - Fashion

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/05/mary-queen-of-shops-fashion-style  

Extract :

"Not your average charity shop
Retail expert Mary Portas is leading a charity shop revolution: she
wants to make them better for shoppers and for the charities that
run them. Simon Chilvers meets her - and gets a makeover from
designer Fee Doran in an Oxfam shop    . . . "

Article in The Observer newspaper - Sunday 30 November 2008 - Cash section - page 19

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/nov/30/charity-shops-money-finance

Extract :

"The tills are ringing in the charity shops ... for now
Shoppers are pouring through the doors in the hunt for festive
bargains, but the supply of clothes and bric-a-brac is about to dry
up, writes Peter Davy

                      . . .   As a rule of thumb, volunteer-run website
Charitybags.org.uk reckons that goods in charity shops sell at 15 per cent
of their original price.   . . .

However, the real danger is a shortage of donations   . . .  

             . . . people are misled into thinking the private [clothing] collectors
are charitable - a tendency encouraged by vague references, such as
'helping families in need', in some leaflets used to publicise companies'
collections.   . . .  "

Article includes information about/from:  Oxfam, Association of Charity Shops, Salvation Army, Children's Society, PDSA, Age Concern, British Retail Consortium, Sue Ryder.

Also includes references to house-to-house clothing collections - eg by Clothes Aid.

Daily Mirror `

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/charity/  

Including features on misleading clothing collections by :

A well-written collection of concise articles, with useful photographs of leaflets etc.  A mine of information.

Local newspapers

Article headed:  "Donating to charity?  Are you certain?  'Be cautious' is council's advice"

media_paper_kosta_bogus_charity_clothing_collection_04.shtml

Magazines

?

Which? magazine - monthly - by subscription

Which? - News - 2 August 2007 :

"Gangs target charity clothes collections
They steal bags and sell the clothes themselves"

www.which.co.uk/news/2007/08/gangs-target-charity-clothes-collections-118778.jsp  

Which? - News - 23 November 2007 :

"Police slammed over charity bag thefts - Clothes Aid says officers not doing enough
Charity bag collector Clothes Aid has criticised police for the lack of action over the continuing theft of bags from doorsteps."

www.which.co.uk/news/2007/11/police-slammed-over-charity-bag-thefts-125938.jsp  

Which? - News - 3 December 2007 :

"Campaign to highlight charity bag thefts - Government tackles bogus collectors
The government has launched a campaign to help consumers to spot bogus charity clothes collectors."

www.which.co.uk/news/2007/12/campaign-to-highlight-charity-bag-thefts-126529.jsp  

Which? - News - 5 December 2007 :

www.which.co.uk/news/2007/12/charity-bag-snatchers-face-crackdown-127241.jsp  

Extract :

" Charity bag snatchers face crackdown
Taking bags from doorsteps is theft, says CPS

Gangs who target charity doorstep clothes collections may no longer be able to exploit a legal grey area to escape prosecution.

Earlier this year, Which? revealed how bogus collectors were stealing millions of pounds from charities each year by taking bags of donated clothing from doorsteps.

The problem was exacerbated by legal confusion over who owned the bag, as the householder had given away the contents and the charity had yet to pick it up.

Charity owns bag
But new guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in London says items left for collection by a charity become the charity’s property as soon as they are put into its bag.

However, the bag must be appropriately marked and clearly belong to the charity.   . . . "

Which? - News - 11 December 2007 :

www.which.co.uk/news/2007/12/bogus-charity-collection-warning-127389.jsp  

Extract :

" Bogus charity collection warning
OFT urges shoppers to be on their guard

A watchdog is warning Christmas shoppers to beware of bogus charity ticket sellers who claim they're raising money for good causes.

The fraudsters are peddling £2 prize draw tickets on UK high streets, promising luxury holidays for the winners.  . . . "

Which? - Advice - Your money  (at October 2009) :

www.which.co.uk/advice/giving-to-charity/street-fundraising/index.jsp  

Extract :

" Giving to charity
Street fundraising

A big issue for charities is whether to use face-to-face or street fundraising, sometimes called (by people who don't like this method) charity mugging or 'chugging'. This is where a team of people stand on the street and sign passers-by up to give money to charity by direct debit. . . . "

Article includes details of best practice guidelines produced by the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA)  

The Internet

Computer mouse (courtesy of SCRAN and James Gardiner)

The Net has a wealth of resources dealing with clothing collections.

There's online information published by the media described above - TV, radio, newspapers and magazines.

Then there's information to be found on the following websites :

See the Useful links page for details of some of these organisations.

 

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