Give with Care

The Charity Commission is joining in a new awareness drive to help people check whether a clothing collection is for charity or not. The drive started on 3rd December in England and Wales in partnership with a number of other bodies. The aim is to ensure that people who want their donated clothes to go to a charity know what information to look out for on leaflets and bags that come through their letter box.  Most leaflets distributed to households are from genuine registered charities. However other leaflets can, at a glance, look like they have come from a charity, but are actually from a company that profits from collections. This initiative is being backed by a group of bodies including the Cabinet office, Trading Standards, the Association for Charity Shops and Clothes Aid.

To help you know what information to look for, a leaflet has been produced by the group involved in this initiative. Print a copy of the leaflet below and keep it somewhere safe to remind you of what to look out for, but in brief, here are our top tips:

• Does the sack or leaflet say the collection is for a registered charity? If so, what’s the registered charity number – call 0845 300 0218 or visit the online Register of Charities to check that it’s genuine.
• Do they only give a registered company number? This just means that the organisation is registered with Companies House.
• Is the charity actually named? Be wary of wording that just says ‘families in need’ or ‘sick kids at Christmas’
• Does the leaflet or bag give a phone number? The absence of a phone number may mean the collectors don’t want to answer questions.

If you are a charity shop, you can download a poster version (PDF) of the information to display or a double-sided leaflet (PDF).