Charity firms accused of lining their pockets with ‘bag’ appeals

ONLY a third of items donated using letterbox charity bags end up in charity shops, it was claimed yesterday.

The British Heart Foundation said most of the goods donated were sold abroad for private profit by companies that use bags covered in charity logos.

Many charities, often those without shops, do deals with commercial firms collecting door-to-door on their behalf.

The company keeps the donated goods and then re-sells them for profit, mostly overseas.They then make a royalty payment to the charity, but as little as 5 per cent of the cash made goes back to good causes, according to the BHF, which has 670 shops nationwide.

In some cases charities are getting £50 to £100 per tonne of goods collected when, in fact, the goods can sell abroad for anything up to £1,800.

This is now a lucrative industry, with householders inundated with charity bags as firms chase millions of pounds of profits from the trade.

Some householders have received up to six charity collecting bags a month through their letterboxes, some containing obvious spelling mistakes naming unknown charities.

Mike Lucas, retail director for the BHF, said: “It is vital commercial companies act responsibly and be transparent on their charity bags – particularly around how much profit the named charity will actually make from a collection.

“Householders have the right to know what happens to their donations and currently this information is not clear.

“Although this is a legal way to raise money, companies working for commercial gain are a huge problem for charities with high street shops.

“BHF shops do not work with these companies and because of this 100 per cent of the profits made from charity bag donations stay with the charity .”

The BHF poll showed 70 per cent of charity bags an average householder receives are from commercial companies.

BHF said as well as itself, charities such as Oxfam, Cancer Research UK and Shelter, which have high street charity shops, ensure goods put into collection bags go to their charity shops.

The BHF survey, by One Poll, of 2,000 adults, also found 65 per cent were not aware commercial companies were involved.

The Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) has had a partnership with Clothes Aid, the UK’s largest clothing collection firm, since February 2009.

Pauline Tanbini, CHAS retail manager, said: “Supporters are made aware all items collected by Clothes Aid are sold through the CHAS shops or overseas to raise money for CHAS. Since Clothes Aid began its partnership with CHAS it has raised over £230,000 which is the equivalent of us running two charity shops without the overheads.”

Gregor McNie, press officer for the Institute of Fundraising, said; “Not all clothes donated are of a standard suitable for resale in a charity shop but could still be sold lucratively abroad.

“Smaller charities may not have the resources to set up chains of charity shops but can still take advantage of doorstep collections. .”