Dear Sir, I wish to raise an issue, which some readers might find sensitive, in regards to charity donation bags. Like most residents I feel I ‘do my bit’ within my means in helping those in need, and donate money and unwanted household items to a charity of my choice. Usually this is at a Household Waste Collection Site, or putting money in collection tins. However, I find I am getting charity bags pushed through my door on a regular basis. If I were to put something in each of them as they come, I would have nothing of my own in the house. To put an end to this unsolicited delivery of charity bags, I placed a clear sign on my front door asking that ‘No Charity Bags’ be delivered.
On Tuesday 4th July I received a new one for Cancer Research & Genetics UK, and on the front of the bag it stated their charity name and charity number (1121512), and that the collection would be Thursday before 9am. I was angered at first that my sign had been ignored, and in an attempt to identify the delivery person I noticed a young man had posted it, but I was unable to get his attention as he was walking away. Further investigations (Google mostly) led me to discover that these bags, appearing to be from a valid charity, were in fact being delivered by a commercial organisation called ‘Recycle Proline Ltd’ and they only donate ‘At Least £3200 per calendar month to Cancer Research & Genetics Ltd”. I also found that on the Advertising Standards Agency website that a complaint had been upheld on 30th March 2016 https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/recycleproline-ltd-a16-324783.html in which a member of the public had complained that the presentation of the ad was misleading because it did not make sufficiently clear the commercial nature of the business, given the prominence of the charity message.
I lodged a supplementary complaint with ASA about this today, as in their original findings they ruled that there was no mention of the advertiser’s name or company status on the front of the bag, which was likely to have the greatest impact on recipients. My main concern is that these companies are selling on our donations to make themselves money. When you consider that saying they donate ‘at least £3200 per calendar month’ is a bit of a fuzzy figure, the question has to be asked, how much money do they actually earn, and why are they still being allowed to post misleading charity bags into our letterboxes? This practice is controlled by the Fundraising Regulator and Advertising Standards Agency and it is up to the public to use our voice and be heard.
Name and address supplied
