Clothes collection in Headington, Oxford

"Charity” clothes collections

Commercial firms constantly bombard Headington with leaflets asking for donations of clothing for third-world countries. They give a limited company number (linked below to their company details) that could easily be interpreted as a registered charity number; but in fact they sell these clothes to the poor for the sole purpose of making a profit for themselves.

	Businesses giving the impression that they are charities A&P Collection Ltd Company No. 5769478) Incorporated April 2006 ASD Ltd Company No. 4497391 Registered as dissolved company *Olonex* Europe Suppliers Ltd Company No. 5401427 Incorporated March 2005 G.V. Clothing Company No. 4333357 Green Valley Clothing Ltd: dissolved August 2004 Kraslava Services Seven Ltd Company No. 04899445 Dissolved Sept. 2005 Textal Ltd Company No. 5733047 Registered as Recycling Port Ltd* (2006)* Third World Clothing Collection Three company numbers: 5482825 "Pajury’s” (2005) 5834199 "Help & Support"* (2006) 5780892 "Helpmates Ltd” (2007)* Polotex Ltd Company No. 06240970 Firms calling themselves charities: "Unwanted clothing collection” Two company numbers: 5583979 Registered as Rogaile Ltd (2005) "The more clothing your [sic] give the more the charity will benefit" 5995054 Registered as Helping Arms (2006) Do Not Delay A “breast-cancer prevention programm [sic]” in Lithuania How to recognize it as a scam Children’s Welfare Foundation Charity No. 1113250 Material collected by Fortune International Ltd See Guardian article

Some off the above companies have leafleted Headington many times, which implies that they are getting a good haul, despite the fact that there are eight charity shops in the centre.

The only 100% commercial company continuing to target Headington in 2009 is "Unwanted Clothing Collection" ("Helping Arms"). They have recently added the following to their leaflet:

From Memorandum of Helping Arms: Company Limited by guaratee and not having a share capital. The company is formed for carrying out charitable assistance to medical organizations in the UK.

If you look up the company number given on the leaflet 5995054 it tells you all that you need to know about this company, which has just received its second notification of strike-off action. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) also adjudicated against them in 2007.

Since January 2009 Headington has been leafleted by the reputable charity Kidney Research UK in collaboration with UK Clothing Collections Ltd. This kind of combination is a new development, and donors should bear in mind that only half the profit will go to the charity: a commercial firm will get the rest. They do however accept the type of clothing that charity shops would probably refuse or throw out.

Charity Bags

Consumer Direct: Bogus Charity Collections

Rip-off Britain: “Charity” collections

Clothes Aid: "Cheating on Charities"

Companies that have targeted Headington since December 2006

08 Dec 2006: “Do Not Delay"
19 Dec 2006: “Unwanted Clothing Collection”
21 Dec 2006: “Third World Clothing Collection” (with Help & Support registration number)
12 Jan 2007: “Third World Clothing Collection” (with Helpmates registration number)
05 Feb 2007: “A&P Collection Ltd"
13 Feb 2007: “Unwanted Clothing Collection”
15 March 2007: “Unwanted Clothing Collection”
02 April 2007: “Third World Clothing Collection” (with Helpmates registration number)
09 May 2007: “Third World Clothing Appeal” (A&P Collection Ltd)
12 May 2007: “Third World Clothing Collection” (with Helpmates registration number)
08 June 2007: “A&P Collection Ltd”
13 July 2007: “Third World Clothing Collection” (with Helpmates registration number)
22 July 2007: “The Children’s Welfare Foundation” (with collections made by Fortune International Ltd). Website http://www.childrenswelfarefoundation.org.uk/ does not work
August 2007: “Polotex Ltd”
11 September 2007: “Unwanted Clothing Collection” for “Helping Arms” (blue plastic bag)
12 October 2007: “Unwanted Clothing Collection” for “Helping Arms” (blue plastic bag)
24 October 2007: “Clothing collection” (Polotex)
26 November 2007: “A&P Collection Ltd"
19 January 2008: "Clothing collection" (Polotex)
21 February 2008: "Clothing collection" (Polotex)
28 February 2008: “Unwanted Clothing Collection” (“Helping Arms”) (blue plastic bag)
1 April 2008: "Polotex Ltd"
6 May 2008: "Clothing collection" (Polotex)
6 June 2008: "Unwanted Clothing Collection” (“Helping Arms”) (blue plastic bag)
15 August 2008: "Third World Clothing Collection" (with Helpmates registration number)
22 August 2008: "Unwanted Clothing Collection" ("Helping Arms") (blue plastic bag)
28 October 2008: "Unwanted Clothing Collection" ("Helping Arms") (blue plastic bag)
14 January 2009: "Unwanted Clothing Collection" ("Helping Arms") (blue plastic bag)
29 April 2009: "Unwanted Clothing Collection" ("Helping Arms") (blue plastic bag)
3 June 2009: "Unwanted Clothing Collection" ("Helping Arms") (leaflet)

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