Choose charity shops first and beat the bogus collectors

Bogus charity collectors are a menace. Whether they drop bogus leaflets looking for donations, steal donations intended for legitimate charities or steal from textile recycling banks, they are cleaning up at the expense of charities that support the most marginalised in society.

To beat the bogus collectors, Irish charity shops are asking the public to donate their unwanted clothes and household goods to their local charity shop. From Friday 15th of March, registered charity shops will be displaying Choose Charity Shops 1st signs in their shop windows. Please support these legitimate charity shops by dropping off your donations directly to a charity shop displaying these signs.

Paul Hughes, the Irish Cancer Society's General Manager (Retail) and spokesperson for the Irish Charity Shops Association, said "Millions of euros worth of donations intended for registered charities are being stolen or fraudulently solicited from the public every year by bogus collectors and bogus charity shops. These parasites are misleading the public who donate clothes and other unwanted items in the belief that they are supporting legitimate charities."

In 2011 an Irish charity shops survey found that in the previous two years over €11 million worth of donations had been lost to bogus collectors. That money could have made such a difference for so many marginalised people.

"To ensure that your donation is going to make a difference, make sure that you donate to a registered charity," said Trevor Anderson of Oxfam Ireland. "They’re easy to spot; from Friday 15th March legitimate charity shops will have the 'Choose Charity Shops 1st' logo in the window and you can be sure that what you donate will make a real difference in a deserving person’s life."

Find the full list of Irish Cancer Society shops and locations here.

For a list of legitimate charity shops visit www.icsa.ie/shops.