Doll heads, mummified cat and pants donated to Scots charity

SEVERED doll heads, loose teeth and a bag of dirty underpants are among the more unsavoury items recently donated to a homelessness charity.

Charlene Ritchie, shop manager in Kelvinbridge, Glasgow, shows off some of the gruesome severed doll heads donated to the charity. Picture: Shelter/PA Wire

A mummified cat and a dominatrix set complete with nipple clamps and whips have also been received at Shelter Scotland’s network of 30 stores.

Other donations include a parcel containing a woman’s engagement ring, wedding photo album - and divorce certificate.

The charity revealed the odd items left with its volunteers as it appealed for the public to stick to clean clothing, books and bric-a-brac.

Deputy director Alison Watson said: “Our supporters have donated some wonderful items over the years that have raised funds for our vital work.

“There are times, however, when we open the donation sacks and are left flabbergasted by what we find.

“We welcome all donations - within reason - and some of the more interesting items are certainly conversation starters with our customers.

“It costs just £10 for one of our advisers to help a family or individual at risk of losing their home and we can raise that money by selling an unwanted dress or pair of shoes, but sadly not a mummified cat which did not sell.”

Among the more welcome items received by the charity was a £7,000 vintage Rolex watch found in a bin bag of bric-a-brac handed into an Edinburgh store.

Shelter’s Dundee shop last month took in £21,000 worth of designer dresses and comedian Kevin Bridges donated the suit he wore to his first gig at Glasgow’s SECC - complete with handwritten notes in the inside jacket pocket - to the charity.

Stores will also gladly receive shoes, bags, games, DVDs, jewellery and ornaments.

Here is Shelter’s list of unusual donations:

A bag containing dozens of doll’s heads with all the eyelids glued shut or painted black (Glasgow)

A dominatrix set with masks, nipple clamps, whips and handcuffs (Paisley, Renfrewshire)

A box of loose teeth with the roots still attached (Glasgow)

A bag of about 30 pairs of dirty underwear (Glasgow)

A china doll with a lock of human hair glued under its clothes (Edinburgh)

Samurai swords (Paisley, Renfrewshire)

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