Red Cross charity shop closures
Keith Parkins | 23.07.2009 15:46
Red Cross is engaging in a wave of closures of its charity shops across the country if they do not make in excess of £15,000 'profit'.
Closed Red Cross shop
One of the first Red Cross charity shops to be closed was the Red Cross shop in Farnborough which closed last week. The reason given by head office is that it is not making enough money and that Farnborough has no future. The staff running the shop were fired.
The statement 'Farnborough has no future', could not be more true, with the blessing of the local council Farnborough town centre has been trashed by St Modwen who specialise in trashing town centres. But, Red Cross came to this conclusion without even visiting the town!
The state of Farnborough town centre is now so dire that even the charity shops are pulling out. Red Cross is not the first and no doubt will not be the last.
The shop 'is not making enough money'. The shop is making £8,000 a year. Closure means the Red Cross is losing £8,000 a year. But the Red Cross argues it costs head office £15,000 a year to run each charity shop! Nice to know our donations go to a good cause, funding head office!
Area managers cruising around in company cars setting targets. Targets! One week good stuff may be donated. Another week a householder has a clear-out and uses the charity shop as a dumping ground to save a trip to the local tip.
There are though deeper issues. Charity shops have got greedy. They are asking too much for the goods in their shops, the items are not sold, then are disposed of. Many shops are selling secondhand items of clothing, which they have got free, for more than can be bought new in Asda or Primark.
The last few days before the Red Cross shop closed last week, items of clothes were sold for £1 each. The shop is now closed, the staff have gone, but the shop is still full of unsold items!
Recently the Oxfam bookshop in Guildford was exposed for trashing sackfuls of books (or recycling as they called it). The books were not selling because the asking price was too high. Their shelves are now half empty.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/396020.html?c=on
In North Camp a RSPCA charity shops sells its books at 50p each. They cannot shift them quick enough and always needs more books.
In North Camp a Parity charity shop sells its books at around a pound each. If they do not sell they are put by the door for 10p. They always get something for what they have been donated.
Donating unwanted items to charity shops helps to give them an extra lease of life, raises extra money for the charity. Too often nowadays the goodwill of the public is being abused.
The statement 'Farnborough has no future', could not be more true, with the blessing of the local council Farnborough town centre has been trashed by St Modwen who specialise in trashing town centres. But, Red Cross came to this conclusion without even visiting the town!
The state of Farnborough town centre is now so dire that even the charity shops are pulling out. Red Cross is not the first and no doubt will not be the last.
The shop 'is not making enough money'. The shop is making £8,000 a year. Closure means the Red Cross is losing £8,000 a year. But the Red Cross argues it costs head office £15,000 a year to run each charity shop! Nice to know our donations go to a good cause, funding head office!
Area managers cruising around in company cars setting targets. Targets! One week good stuff may be donated. Another week a householder has a clear-out and uses the charity shop as a dumping ground to save a trip to the local tip.
There are though deeper issues. Charity shops have got greedy. They are asking too much for the goods in their shops, the items are not sold, then are disposed of. Many shops are selling secondhand items of clothing, which they have got free, for more than can be bought new in Asda or Primark.
The last few days before the Red Cross shop closed last week, items of clothes were sold for £1 each. The shop is now closed, the staff have gone, but the shop is still full of unsold items!
Recently the Oxfam bookshop in Guildford was exposed for trashing sackfuls of books (or recycling as they called it). The books were not selling because the asking price was too high. Their shelves are now half empty.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/396020.html?c=on In North Camp a RSPCA charity shops sells its books at 50p each. They cannot shift them quick enough and always needs more books.
In North Camp a Parity charity shop sells its books at around a pound each. If they do not sell they are put by the door for 10p. They always get something for what they have been donated.
Donating unwanted items to charity shops helps to give them an extra lease of life, raises extra money for the charity. Too often nowadays the goodwill of the public is being abused.
Keith Parkins
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