Member News
By Tracey Crouch MP - 13th October 2010
Tracey Crouch MP writes for ePolitix.com ahead of her Westminster Hall debate on bogus charity bag collections.
My debate today won't be the first time bogus charity collectors have been discussed in Westminster Hall.
Jo Swinson MP (Lib Dem, East Dunbartonshire) raised this issue three years ago and by doing so massively raised awareness of this organised crime in Parliament. Unfortunately despite all Jo's efforts and the warm words of the minister at the time, this criminal activity has got worse not better and each year charities lose millions of pounds in donations to bogus collectors.
House to house collections of donated goods are a crucial source of income for many charities, those with and without shops.
If you take the British Heart Foundation for example, last year they contributed over £22m to the fight against heart disease, and 43 per cent of sales income was from goods donated through doorstep collections.
Age UK raises approximately £25m per year from charity bags, which accounts for around 60 per cent of the stock sold in their chain of shops.
Even for those charities who don't have shops, i.e. the vast majority of charities, house to house collections form a massive part of their fundraising.
Legitimate private collection companies, some of which are better than others, are sourced to collect on behalf of many charities. Their professional fundraising ability means that companies like Clothes Aid collect around £2m per year on behalf of their tied charities.
Charity bag collections are a convenient way of people to recycle their unwanted textiles. Our increasingly busy lifestyles mean that finding the time to drop clothes into a shop is difficult. And with shops themselves often located in pedestrianised areas it becomes incredibly difficult to make large donations following a spring clean, post diet or a pre-Winter wardrobe update.
Like millions of people who put clothes in a charity bag and pop them outside my door before heading off to work, I do so in good faith and with the belief that they will be put to good use and raise vital funds for whichever charity is collecting. Sadly it appears that like many other people that trust can sometimes be misplaced.
Enforcement and punishment is piecemeal. Some police forces recognise that there are often other underlying issues behind the organised activity and act swiftly and effectively to eliminate all illegal operators from the area, but others do not.
Unfortunately this leaves bogus collectors to operate with impunity depriving charities of vital fund, increasing public mistrust of charity bags and making it harder for the UK to meet its environmental and waste targets of which textiles form an important element.
I will be calling for the minister to offer more than just warm words on this matter and instead lead the attack against this growing nationwide crime.
The public need to know that they can give with confidence backed up by an effective legislative and regulatory system which catches and punishes illegal operations.
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