Oxted Charity shops and their lovely volunteers are finding it increasingly hard to keep on top of the amount of donations that are deposited on their doorsteps out of hours.
While the charity organisations are very grateful for all the generous and genuine donations of clothing, books, CDs and household goods they receive from well-meaning members of the public, there is an increasing trend by some not-so-charitable people to use their door steps as a convenient dumping ground for unwanted household items and other unwanted items that are neither suitable for resale nor for donation to those in need.
Leaving rubbish outside of any shop is fly-tipping and actually illegal.
This activity, often undertaken under cover of darkness, is actually costing charities thousands a year to pay for rubbish removal, not to mention the number of volunteer hours it takes every day to move and sift through what is left on their doorsteps or at their back doors.
We would like to appeal to Oxted residents to please donate your items during opening hours and not overnight when the charity shops and workers are not there. Legitimate donations often do not even make it into the charity, because there are also a number of individuals who go round in vans every night sorting through and removing any quality donations and leaving a huge mess in their wake.
Often what the volunteers arrive to in the morning is a pile of heavy, damp, sifted-through bags of rubbish that cannot be used for anything. They then have to organise for that rubbish to be removed from their shops.
You can dispose of lots of household items in your general weekly collection or by booking a special collection and there are community recycling centres at Earlswood (Redhill), Warlingham and Caterham.
Click here to find your nearest one.
There are also plenty of Charity clothing units in carparks in and around Oxted where you can leave your donations of clothing, shoes and accessories and blankets etc.
What is good to donate:
- Good quality, clean and wearable clothing (no underwear) and linens
- Clean blankets
- Unbroken toys and other play equipment
- Jewellery and accessories, such as handbags, purses etc.
- Books and CDs in good enough condition for re-sale
- Your TIME! Charities need volunteers to help man the shops and sort donations
- Your MONEY! Please donate to charities and remember to select Gift Aid.
Please continue to support our charities by buying from them and donating responsibly.
But please, do not take advantage of their good nature by dumping on their doorsteps.
Thank you from the LoveOxted team.
