People are taking donations left for charity shops (From Croydon Guardian)

People are taking donations left for charity shops

12:20pm Wednesday 8th February 2006 in News By Jane Bruccoleri

Heartless thieves are depriving Addiscombe charity shops of vital cash by rummaging through bin bags left outside and selling the swiped goods at car boot sales.

Up to 100 bags are left outside the charity shops in Lower Addiscombe Road each week after they close on Saturday evenings.

But by Monday many donations have been stolen. Bags are found ripped open and their contents ruined.

Shop workers claim the thefts are depriving them of up to £150-a-week each.

Davina Highman, manager at St Christopher's Hospice shop, said: "It happens all the time. People are leaving bags outside the shops and they're being ripped open and left on the pavement.

"We have to pay to have the stuff taken away and we can't use it, so we're losing money."

She fears donations are being sold in car boot sales a concern echoed by fellow charity shop manager Nikki Key.

"People put decent donations out there for us. When they are taken they are effectively stealing money from us," said Nikki who runs the nearby Scope shop.

She added: "People come in on Monday expecting items they have seen outside to be here and they're not. It just seems ridiculous that nothing can be done about it."

A spokesman for the Association of Charity Shops (ACS), which supports charity retailers, said: "It happens a lot and despite the best efforts of charity shops asking people not to leave donations outside, it is an issue.

"It is a major problem not only because of the lost donations but because of litter and the safety issue when things are destroyed and soiled."

Sean Fitzsimons, ward councillor for Addiscombe, said charity shops were a "two-edged sword". He said: "It is good people use them but they add little to the local economy. As much as charity is a good thing, you can have too much of it.

"But the one thing we don't want is criminal behaviour and people stealing money from local organisations which are trying to do good things."

Shops are also forced to pay for the discarded goods to be taken away. Nikki added: "We have to pay £40 for the mess to be cleared up. It is a substantial amount of money from the charity shop."

An ACS spokesman said: "The local council is less inclined to take any action because that could be counter-active. It's a grey area; no charity would want well-meaning donators prosecuted."

Croydon police Sergeant Phil Webb said because the donations have left the hands of the previous owner and have not been received by the shops, technically it is not their property.

He added: "The simple fact is if something does not belong to you you do not have the right to take it. If it's outside a charity shop it should be obvious it is intended that the charity shop should make profit from it for a good cause."