if you take items to charity shops,an appeal

I understand many of the reasons behind what I am about to say, but does anyone else find that getting rid of 'stuff' is just such hard work these days? Everything has to be sorted and taken somewhere, which is one thing if you have a car, but you can't just go round a room with a black bag and throw away anything you don't want - the tip is divided into plastic, metal, wood, card etc, and are policed by men making sure that nothing goes into the wrong skip. Some items are made from more than one material too, which makes that difficult.

Our council doesn't collect glass, so we separate out jars and bottles, wash them and take them to the tip (well, Mr Dog does - I don't drive, so would be stuck if he couldn't do it).

As people have said, many charity shops have lists of what they will and won't take, and whilst there may be good reasons why they don't want certain items (eg books) having to sort according to the different shops all makes it a massive chore for busy people who just want to have a clearout.

Someone will no doubt come along and say that people shouldn't have as much stuff, but whereas that may be true it is also spectacularly unhelpful . I know that recycling is important, but sometimes I hanker for my mother's day, when what she didn't put on the fire or give to the rag and bone man in exchange for a balloon or something just went in the bin (or next to it if it didn't fit) and the binmen took it away.

I'm really lucky. There is a charity shop 2 minutes walk away from me that almost always accepts donations. Trouble is, I go in with stuff to get rid of and frequently buy more stuff when I'm in there. Defeats the purpose really!

When I worked full time at St Vincents we had very little storage space and had to be aware of space for donations making sure nothing was going to cause obstructions in the room at the back of the shop,most of my volunteers where older ladies and if too many bags where to be sorted there was always the fear of accidents or tripping over items.

We are lucky in that respect. Just down in the lift and there’s one in the square next door to Boots.

Thank you for the reminder about Salvation Army Banks; I noticed a new one two days ago in a carpark I use frequently. The problem is china; I can't post that through the slot.

I am inclined to give occasional bags to whichever Charity Shop will accept them. There are never any toys as I know the shops around here always say no toys please but we don't have any, anyway. I must say since Lockdown when I sorted out an enormous amount of stuff that was either donated or chucked, I have very little stuff no longer needed. Also when I buy anything I always throw out ir give away something. Otherwise the house would silt up. Maybe other posters don't have the large number of Charity Shops we have. If one doesn't want it I have plenty others to chose from.

Well thanks for your comments about the kerbside bags, I haven’t used one yet, so won’t in future.
I fully understand that space is limited, but I just find myself feeling like they are doing me a massive favour by accepting it.
We gave my granddaughters bedroom a massive clear out a couple of weeks ago, we had bags of stuff, some with labels still on, and much of it hardly worn.
We set out to the charity shop on a Saturday afternoon, I drove, she checked them all on phone, most of them were shut, fair enough, several weren’t accepting donations, we eventually found one open and accepting donations, but when we got there, they didn’t accept childrens clothes, that had to go to another branch across town.
Needless to say, it’s still in the back of my car.

Infoman
Where did you get this idea?
I work 2 days a week sorting at a charity shop. The only time we put a sign up is when it’s getting to the stage where we can’t get to the fire escape.

We take donations all through the day up to closing time and often have in excess of 200 bags per day
The only time we have ever put the sign out was in the pandemic when so many people were clearing their houses for something to do and staff was in shortage
Please remember most small shops only have a finite area of space to store big loads of donations in or perhaps some smaller shops are struggling with people off with CoviD and other related health problems
THEY ARE NOT DOING IT TO BE AKWARD
Ring before leaving if you are worried you ll have to bring your bags back home and don’t leave it till 4 pm

We need your donations ( the bags by the roadside are a con)

Don’t stop giving, go in the morning…. but it’s nothing to do with workers it’s storage space Where do you put 200 over filled black bags ?

I agree beautiful - the bags that come through the door are a disgrace in how little a charity actually gets.
I say this as someone with a boot full of items too Sara so I know how annoying it can be.

May I add regarding the charity bag collections ... look on the back ... small print ... the charities only receive a percentage of the tonnage not the actual goods, if you have more expensive items may be better to donate direct to the charity (shop) so they will benefit more from the reselling ... just thought mentioning

Why they put sign up about not taking any more items up ... not just for the day ... is because ... a lot only have small storage places to keep them ... I know this first hand ... so unless it states ... please continue to take in any time

I take mine to St Vincents- always happy to receive goods anytime.Also sometimes the Salvos and RSPCA- all very obliging , no particular time except 9am-5pm. Otherwise I figure they are not that keen and probably have too much. Not many will take books now I notice- even almost new ones.

I have given up on picky charity shops so I put my bags in the Salvation Army bins which are everywhere here.

I get what you’re saying, but is so annoying, I end up with bags in the back of my car for weeks.
I’ve decided to wait till we get one of those bags through the door.