WCYT

CHARITY shops and good causes are losing millions of pounds a year to bogus second-hand goods collectors who profit from our desire to help others. Each week, gangs push millions of leaflets through letterboxes from the north of Scotland to Cornwall announcing a clothing collection and asking homeowners to leave out unwanted textiles and shoes on a particular day. Most imply the collection is to raise money for the poor, homeless, or animals.

Others say the clothing will be sent to eastern Europe or developing countries to help those who cannot afford new garments. Dozens of these leaflets have drawn attention to the scam. Often, dodgy garment gatherers will use names such as Angel of Goodness, Angel of Help, or Island of Hope. And many will use pictures of "orphans" or "street children" on the leaflets.

Others use words like "recycling", potentially causing confusion with real charities such as London's Evergreen Trust which collect a wide variety of goods including phones and printer cartridges for genuine projects.But the reality is that at best these leaflets come from commercial enterprises - almost entirely organised by eastern Europeans - pretending to be connected to good causes.

At worst, the leaflets are a fig leaf for organised thieves who steal goods left on the door step for genuine appeals - often getting to homes minutes before real charities such as the British Heart Foundation, Scope and the Salvation Army. Either way, registered charities that collect unwanted goods door-to-door to sell in their high street shops or for recycling projects are angry.

"Our members are losing £2m to £3m a year - and at the moment it is at the high end of that range," says Lekha Klouda, director of the Association of Charity Shops, which speaks for 270 charities with more than 7,000 shops nationwide. Members include Oxfam, Cancer Research and local causes such as hospices and animal rescue centres. "That's what we know we lose and we've been monitoring the situation since 1997 when we first alerted the government to the problem. At the moment, we are losing a lot because the peaks and troughs of economic cycles are putting a premium on second-hand UK clothes," she says.

The bogus collectors ship clothing to be sold on overseas street stalls, mostly in eastern Europe and Africa, pocketing the profit and giving nothing to charity. While designer labels fetch the highest money, mid-market names such as Next or Marks & Spencer sell for good prices as well. Even Primark and Tesco labels are worth something, and half-used cosmetics find a market, too. Mixed textiles are worth about £85 a tonne.

But the real loss to charity shops could be far higher than Ms Klouda's estimate because phoney charity collectors erode people's giving instincts.

"They may not trust the bags given out by our legitimate members or collections by other charities," she says. "You can't quantify that. It's a loss of confidence which may affect other forms of charitable giving."

When the bogus collections first started, those behind it either stated or implied they were legitimate charities.
Now they realise that this deception can cause trouble with the police. "These days they set themselves up as limited companies," says Michael Lomotey of Clothes Aid, a not-for-profit company that collects and sells clothing for a number of causes that do not have charity shops, including children's hospitals such as Great Ormond Street in London and Liverpool's Alder Hey.

"It is easy to register a company," he says. "They buy one from a company formation agent off-the-shelf, change the name to something seemingly charitable, and have two directors who may or may not know their names have been used, but who will never be directors of any other company. They register it at a short-term address - a mail drop, bedsit, rented flat or shop. There is no real cross-checking to ensure these details are genuine. They then ignore the annual returns and accounts demanded by company law until the company is struck off. Even then, many will continue to collect."

Mr Lomotey has tracked nearly 100 of these companies - mostly phoney. "They rarely last longer than a year," he says. "By then, they have fulfilled their purpose."

But although trading standards officers and Consumer Direct have produced warnings about bogus collectors - including a spoof from Cardiff trading standards with lines such as "Clothing Scam Company", "Please Line Our Pockets" and featuring a picture of "third world children in need" - Mr Lomotey believes few people are now caught out by phoney pamphlets. The main problem is theft from doorsteps, including Clothes Aid's own bags.

Make sure you give to the right cancer charity
ON a regular basis we receive an envelope containing a bag for old clothing and at first sight you could be forgiven that this was a collection for Breast Cancer. It is....but not the charity you would normally support in Britain.

This comes from an organisation called Do Not Delay and they are based in Lithuania. We are not suggesting they are doing anything illegal, but they are not a registered charity in this country.

They claim to help Lithuanian women with breast cancer and as far as we know they may be doing a good job and may have donated lot's of money to the cause. But if you are going to donate clothes make sure they go to a registered charity based in Britain and if you want to give specifically to Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns, contact the charity direct at Breast Cancer Campaign,Clifton Centre 110, Clifton Street, London EC2A 4H. Tor phone them on 020 7749 3700

WCYT

A community interest company keeping vulnerable residents in Essex safe from rogue tradesmen and doorstep conmen

www.whocanyoutrust.org.uk

Bogus clothing collectors

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