Beware Of Misleading Requests For Clothes Donations |
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Wandsworth Trading Standards Officers are concerned residents are being misled
Trading standards officers have renewed their warnings to residents to beware of misleading leaflets being put through their doors, asking for clothes donations. The leaflets request spare and unwanted clothes, towels and blankets so they can be distributed to needy people in the developing world and eastern Europe. Many people wrongly believe that these leaflets are from charities. In reality, they are being distributed by commercial firms that are collecting clothes in order to sell them. One firm in particular is understood to have been delivering pamphlets and leaflets to homes in the borough in recent weeks. The leaflets are not illegal and the firms are not breaking the law because they do not actually say they are collecting for charity. However trading standards officials are warning that the clear intention is to make people think they are charitable enterprises. The Association of Charity Shops estimates that charities lose between £2 million and £3 million a year as a result of donations given to commercial companies by people who mistakenly think they are helping charitable good causes. Top tips for spotting a bogus charity collection:
March 10, 2011 |