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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A response from the British Red Cross
28.07.2009 15:59
Thanks for your passionate post about our shop. We're listening to your comments, and unfortunately we thought that a few of the facts in the story were a bit misleading. Just to be clear, the British Red Cross is not engaged in a wave of charity shop closures – on average we close 6-12 shops each year and 2009 is no exception. We only close shops when there the lease comes up for renewal or similar and the shop is making a net loss.
In the specific context on Farnborough, the shop building was in a poor condition with a damp problem and making a loss (between January and May 2009, it was made a £1,700 loss). Shop staff and volunteers knew all about the closure and there was a six month consultation period with everyone involved.
On the flip side, we have already opened 7 new shops this year and will continue to do so wherever there is a business case for profitable shops that will raise money for the British Red Cross. Overall our charity shops are responsible for 11% of British Red Cross fundraising and are a very valuable resource.
As with all our closures the British Red Cross would strip the shop and move any unsold items to another shop so that they can be sold there instead. This photo was taken the day after the shop closed and so we haven’t had time to get our vans and personnel in to clear the shop properly yet.
Donations are the lifeblood of charity shops, so if you are having a clear out of any clothes, books, household items etc anytime soon then do think of us and drop them off. You can find your nearest Red Cross shops here: www.redcross.org.yk/nearyou
Please feel free to contact me if you wish to follow up on any of this. I am happy to be in touch.
Best,
Claire Sale
British Red Cross
Claire Sale
e-mail:
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