Forum Topic

Bosnia & Herzegovina Charity Shop?

Is it a charity or a commercial op?Just checked the charities commission and it is not listed

Jeremy Beckett ● 4846d13 Comments

where is it?

Chris Hurley ● 4846d

just round the corner from morrisons, horn lane

Jeremy Beckett ● 4846d

The run down appearance of this shop would surely put one of going inside!I guess there may be more than 1 so called 'Charity Shop' operating in London, and just because a business once managed to get the Registered Charity Number doesn't mean to say they ensure that all their funds go towards a designated charity!

Jean F Fernandez ● 4846d

my only issue is that if it is a commercial second hand shop then donors are being duped.

Jeremy Beckett ● 4846d

I've always wondered about this too. I donated loads of stuff a while back. Also, I know for sure that the place that sells old furniture on Chruchfield Rd gets some of it from the dump. Numerous times I have seen things out at the dump and then seen them the same afternoon outside the shop. Dodgy dealing or one man's trash...?

Mark Bird ● 4845d

entrepreneurial?

Kim Bobsin ● 4845d

The "dump" has officially been called a Reuse & Recycling Centre for many years.  However much of what is taken there needs a little TLC to be reused.  Unless there is such a contract set up for this much of which is taken there is crushed.  Is that what you want?  It's not what most people want as once crushed it probably will have to be just dumped.Do remember that people often give their time to work in charity shops. This is one of the most valuable gifts that you can give to anyone and something people constantly complain about not having enough of and jealously keep to themselves. Time is what you make of it.You can also sell stuff on ebay and donate the money to your chosen charity.  Then you will only have yourself to account for any poor deal that you do.  You'll be able to glow with pride if you manage to make a larger amount than you thought for your chosen charity.  I wonder though how many people actually do/will hand the money over. If you have a conscience it should bother you! Many people are both economically and time pressured nowadays and sharing a little more time might make a lot more things happen.There are a lot of questions that can be levelled at all sorts of charities.  What about the big ones for instance that work as commercial businesses?  The ones that lobby government?  If you want to be really charitable to have to do something yourself.  So I guess that's why they say Charity Begins at Home.  If you are not prepared to do that then you'll just have to have a more pragmatic approach.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22758191And we'll go back to whether just because something is legal it's OK....

Philippa Bond ● 4845d

i didn't think anything taken to the dump could be re used. I've seen people ask to take things form the dump and been refused. Personally i find the guys at Bollo lane a bit unhelpful for the most part. The dump by Asda is bigger and the guys there are really helpful.As for the second hand shop on Churchfield road, I sometimes wonder how they come up with their prices - I suspect they come up with a sensible figure and double it! Although I have sold things to them and they've paid ok prices, not great, but not too bad.Carl

Carl Tamboli ● 4845d

I wrote a number of letters to the council some time ago suggesting ways that they might encourage people to extend the life span of goods rather than taking them to Bollo lane. One was to put the addresses of Freecycle up on the gate. Council was very negative.Going back to the Bosnian shop. No problem with them being entrepreneurial but if it is commercial op then 'Charity' should be removed from signage.

Jeremy Beckett ● 4844d

The Council no longer runs the Reuse & Recycling Centre.  Just like the kerbside collection the work is contracted out and there have been complaints by the companies taking these contracts that they are not getting as much benefit from them as they might because of people using Freecycle and the like to find good and useful homes for reusable items. (Recycling technically is an end-of-life process coming after Reduce & Reuse in the waste hierarchy - it is often deliberately and misleadingly misused.)The Council website deteriorated quite considerably about the same time as this new kerbside contract came into effect.  It became less informative.  It also used to state that we could keep our rubbish in ordinary dustbins as many of us do but this disappeared with other useful information. (Compare with Hounslow's site.) We STILL after all these years do not have downloadable PDFs of what can go into the green box which other Councils have.There are a lot of responsible residents who look after their waste securely until it is collected but it seems that the Council has rolled over and handed over all responsibility and control to a sub-contractor.We have landlords taking no responsibility for providing adequate space for bins for their residents with the resultant frustration and inability of the tenants to organise their waste as well as they might otherwise.I was reliably informed that a couple of contracts ago the large items collection service was collecting perfectly good furniture and just crushing it because they had nowhere to put it/no contract in place. A crying criminal shame.Ealing is part of a group of 5 West London Boroughs -  Hounslow Hillingdon Brent Richmond & Ealing making up the West London Waste Authority.http://www.westlondonwaste.gov.uk/west-london-waste-authority/members-and-officers/ Returning to Jeremy's original posting.  I understand your frustration but if you look at the reference for the Charity Commission I think you will find that although they tightened up some time ago just as there is with a lot of other government funded bodies there are problems with this one and tax avoidance.  I would have thought that with less money and fewer staff they won't find it any easier than HMRC in the same boat do.  Yet again the ones who can afford to will get away with it.To make the most difference and make the most of your donation you do need to make more effort in making sure you give as directly as possible.  Don't expect anyone/everyone else to take all responsibility. It will be even harder for charities when they have no volunteers and they have to pay for their paid workers' pension plans as well.

Philippa Bond ● 4844d

I have seen people paying the guy for dumped items at the dump.

Mark Bird ● 4844d

There are quite a few Bosnia & Herzogovina charities registered with Charities Commission.http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/notify-us-of-changes/apply-to-us/use-the-word-charity-in-a-non-charitable-company-name/

Philippa Bond ● 4843d

Mark, if you have seen money change hands at Ealing Council's refuse facility this needs to be reported to the Head of Department at Ealing Town Hall.

dee cook ● 4842d