Theft outside of charity shops

Detritus · February 2012

Don't know who she is but for the last few Sundays a woman in a green car has driven up stopped opposite Sainsbury's and taken all the stuff that's been left outside of the Mind shop. I know they put a notice saying 'please dont leave stuff out side', and if your reading this you're a thieving bitch, but I hope your not reading this as next week I am going to leave a bag of clothes there and tucked away in a shirt will be a nice big turd.

poxy · February 2012

How do you know she doesn't work for Mind? She might be taking the stuff away for safe-keeping and returning it later.

miss annie · February 2012

No, she's not. I've seen it too and informed Mind. They say it's common for people to drive round and collect stuff that people have left outside and then sell it on at boot sales, eBay etc.

Detritus · February 2012

No she is not, as when I shouted at her she looked panicked and run back to her car. Plus her car was full of black bin bags with stuff in it.But I do conceded that she might of been slightly frightened of a large man shouting at her in northern gibberish.But its still wrong what ever way you look at it, and I agree that people should not leave things outside the charity shops.

gardener-joe · February 2012

make of car and number plate ...

Detritus · February 2012

Good point well made...Didnt really have time to get them I am sorry to say.

ashman · February 2012

Typical car boot idiot

Idoru · February 2012

I've quite often left stuff outside of charity shops, being of the opinion that if it ends up with someone who needs it then it's all to the good, but to steal from a charity shop so you can sell stuff on is pretty low.

TheBullHighgate · February 2012

.oops wrong thread.

[Deleted User] · February 2012

The user and all related content has been deleted.

applehead · February 2012

Textiles are big business - people make money out of all kinds of textile recycling and this person sounds like she has started her own round of weekend collections, probably for personal profit. There doesn't seem to be a way of stopping theft unless people try to get donations to the shops when they are open which is not always possible for whatever reason. The other solution is to put clothes donations into the big recyle bins ( 'bring sites') for collection like the ones down opposite the Nandos on Tollington or up on Crouch Hill (near the bridge which goes over the Parkland Walk) or take them to recycle centres which again may not be viable for some people.

gardener-joe · February 2012

or just go into ne charity shop when it is open? ... dohh!

[Deleted User] · February 2012

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Detritus · February 2012

It was not the woman from your old place Misscara, I think its going on ebay.

ashman · February 2012

Its so low to take clothes that were meant for people who need help. Most people wouldnt even give to charity but people like this will take from them. Your going to hell lady

gardener-joe · February 2012

She is a specialist dominatrix whose clent's idea of humiliation is to dress shabby chic ... perhaps?

vetski · February 2012

@Detritus, what time does this woman turn up? Anyone else fancy forming a posse to converge on her on Sunday yelling "Stop Thief"?

ashman · February 2012

Angry mob chasing her away, that would b hilarious

vetski · February 2012

We'd need some photos to send to the press to go with the headline 'Protective local residents chase off charity-shop thief'! Or perhaps @StroudGreen.SNT would like to do a bit of strategic lurking?

Peter Crumb · February 2012

Seen it quite a few times outside Mind. Remember being quite drunk outside Sainsbury's on my way home and standing there with the security guard shouting at a bloke going through the bags. Didn't stop him mind.

[Deleted User] · February 2012

The user and all related content has been deleted.

harpistic · February 2012

Because it's that or not donate? I've got stuff piling up to donate and I'm not around the hours that they're open. Maybe if they had a bin of sorts for out-of-hours donations?

[Deleted User] · February 2012

The user and all related content has been deleted.

yagamuffin · February 2012

@<;a href="http://www.stroudgreen.org/profile/1509/harpistic" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'lucida grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', tahoma, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(43, 45, 51); border-style: initial; border-color: initial; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">harpistic</a> If it's clothes I usually just leave it out in the bags that get popped through the letterbox every so often. I only assume that they are collected and go to the charity although I wouldn't be surprised to hear of random's nicking them too...

Detritus · February 2012

It has been 2 different times, but both on a Sunday, I am a big lad and I think I might of worried her a tad by yelling at her

Ilovegreyhounds · February 2012

@yagamuffin bags outside the house do get raided and nicked, apparently there is quite a trade. A couple of years ago we left a couple of bags outside, later on that morning I saw a van slow down outside which I assumed was the pick up. Two hours later I saw the proper branded charity van on our road so went outside to talk to them. We found that our bags had been ripped open, the best stuff taken and the rest had been scattered across the road and in puddles. The charity people say they find it happens a lot and try to do their collections as early as possible to get ahead of the thieves. Apparently the clothes are sold in markets.

[Deleted User] · February 2012

The user and all related content has been deleted.

vetski · February 2012

Even where those collection bags are distributed by non-dodgy organisations, they are often not charities themselves - the stuff goes to a warehouse and charities/schools pay a fee to access it. Another model is where it's sold (rather than donated) to the Third World.

Ilovegreyhounds · February 2012

Always look for an official charity number on bags/donations forms. Sadly the only way to make sure the charity gets the stuff is to deliver it to the shop or arrange a collection via phone if you have loads of stuff.

harpistic · February 2012

I guess the problem is that some people want to know where their donated goods are going, i.e. to which charity - and the bins opposite Nando's (which I didn't know about, thanks!) are used for multiple unnamed charities. And Mind is a charity worth supporting!

Annbag · February 2012

If you can't get to a shop then most medium to large charities will pick up from offices or your work. You can get a container in reception and the staff can donate their goods to be picked up at a later date. One of the problems with leaving stuff outside as well as the stealing is that it can get spread all over the pavement or road which is an extra job for the volunteers to do, plus the clothes can become dirty / rained on out there. I've heard of a few charity shops (elsewhere in the country) having to pay if the council clean it up. So please don't leave stuff outside!

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Top Posters

Theft outside of charity shops

Comments