Clothing collections

Flintshire Trading Standards service is again warning householders in the County to be watchful for leaflets coming through doors looking for donations of unwanted clothing and shoes.

There are many commercial companies who purport to collect clothes for distribution amongst charitable organisations when they are in fact sold for profit. These leaflets often appear to be from charities but Trading Standards advises everyone to look at the leaflets closely.

Flintshire County Council Trading Standards has become aware of some leaflets that have been put through doors in the county where the operation is anything but a charity. The leaflet gives the name and registration number of a company but enquiries have shown that the company had been dissolved and the registration number given was for a totally unrelated company. Therefore those behind this profit making venture cannot be traced.

Dr Paul McGreary, Flintshire County Council’s Head of Public Protection,
said:

“The advice we offer is that householders should only donate their unwanted clothes and shoes to well known charitable organisations. These charities will clearly show the full name and address of the charity together with their registration number. This number can be checked out by calling the Charity Commission helpline on 0870 333 0123. If anyone receives a leaflet from an organisation without the relevant charity number and especially if it suggests that the clothing will be distributed in Eastern European countries Trading Standards would like to know where and when these collectors will be in the area. Please contact Flintshire Trading Standards on 01352 703181.”