Fund-raisers at St Richard’s Hospice

Fund-raisers at St Richard’s Hospice say they feel people are losing faith in the scheme, after seeing donations more than halve in the past four years.
Trust has been undermined by the distribution of bogus bags by companies claiming to be acting on behalf of charities, as previously reported in the Worcester News.

Now research by the British Heart Foundation shows as little as a third of items find their way to charity shops, even when given through reputable schemes.
According to BHF, two thirds of charity bags received by householders are from commercial companies who work with charities and sell the donated items overseas for financial gain.

Danny Corns, commercial director at St Richard’s Hospice in Wildwood Drive, which distributes about 160,000 bags a year – said more competition combined with people losing faith in the bag scheme meant the method was less cost effective.

“When we started four years ago, we were getting a 22 per cent return,” he said.
“Now we’re getting eight per cent. We need to consider other ways of receiving donations which are viable.
“I think the drop is because other companies and charities are now distributing bags and people have also lost faith [in where their donations are going]. There’s also the issue of other people taking the bags before we get there.

“The best way [of giving donations] without a doubt is taking them to our shops, our warehouse in Leigh Sinton or putting them in our textile banks.”

Mr Corns said the charity was now looking for more private car parks where they could put their banks and a free collection service was available to people with large volumes of donations.