Less Charity for Charity Shops?
by Kamilah Fabien
According to a recent BBC story, charity shops have been receiving less donations, so much so that some shop owners are worried about running out of stock.
Not only are people making less donations, but supposedly the quality of donations is not as good.
Merchandise however, has been flying off the racks as people seek bargains that they might not find in high street shops.
I decided to visit some charity shops on my high street in Orpington and see if the BBC’s findings held true.
No change
At Scope (for people with Cerebral Palsy) Janet, the store manager revealed that in fact at their store, sales were down but that she didn’t notice any decline in the quantity of donations except for shoes.
At Cancer Research UK their store manager Mandy said that sales were down, but blamed it on the fact that other clothing stores in Orpington had closed and less traffic was coming to the area.
Listen to the audio tracks for full interviews from Janet and Mandy.
Charity shops in the smaller shopping areas may just not be experiencing this drop in donations yet, or even increased sales.
Keep reading this issue of Skinflint for other trends that you may be unaware of.
