Is charity "Care and Concern in Action" genuine or bogus?

mambo

My Dublin apartment block regularly gets plastics bags/flyers delivered from this Northern Ireland-based "charity" looking for donations of clothes for the needy, and many people leave out bags of old clothes to be collected.

I can't find any reference to the charity online, e.g. at http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/first.asp

And it fits all the hallmarks of a bogus charity - see http://www.oft.gov.uk/News/Press+rel...ollections.htm

Anyone know anything more about it? Are we being "scammed"?

Kwekubo

The Charity Commission website doesn't cover charities in Northern Ireland, just those in Britain (or possibly even just those in England and Wales). I called up the NI Department for Social Development about this group a few weeks ago, and apparently there's no register in NI - you just tick the charity box + fill in your number on the tax return, so there's no register yet to check whether a specific group in NI is a real charity. If you want to give some old clothes I'd suggest you just bring them to a charity shop/a charity you know to be real.

the_syco

If it doesn't say "registered charity", it proberly isn't one. If the number is a mobile number, its bogus. If they give no info on the charity, its bogus.

Does anyone know of a webpage to check out the company/VAT numbers, etc that you'd see on pieces of paper that come with the bags, to see what company is doing it. Would be interestingg to know.

Karoma

Any genuine charity will nearly always provide their registered number (Irish format: CHY...)

Does anyone know of a webpage to check out the company/VAT numbers, etc that you'd see on pieces of paper that come with the bags, to see what company is doing it.

www.cro.ie 's search facility helps a very small bit.



It's terrible but at this stage, you may assume they're bogus. If you wish to donate to charity: Fill a bag and bring it down to a charity shop near you.

Belfafter

yes mambo you are definitly being scammed.
There used to be a shop of trhat name ran by a convicted fraudster whose name I will not mention.
One of the big 2 NI based doorstep commercial collectors uses that as 1 of there many charity appeals.
These crooks run dozens and dozens of vans full of eastern europeans.
They are always told to say they have no english.
I know this to be fact as my brother worked for them a few years back but its nearly all foreigners works for them now.

Meathlass

I read an article recently which said that the vast majority of these bags that are dropped to your home are commerical organistions and not charities, seems to be a huge problem particulary with Northern Irish registered 'charities'. They wash and iron the clothes and sell them on in bulk either for the rag trade or to second hand shops or markets, they make a fortune doing this.

If you want to give clothes to charity you really have to bring it in to the shop directly.

kkovacic

Hi,
This is a great therad, and I wander how is this issue not publicised more.

I live in Stepaside and we get a collection note almost every day. I've seen the van and its the same van collecting under different charity names. All phone numbers are mobile and nobody picks up (I tried to ring).
However, they still collect loads every day as most people do not bother driving to shops.

Why does Irish Charity Shop association not organise such collection? It is hard to drop into a shop because there's usually no parking nearby (although I got lucky in Dundrum last Friday with a spot in front Oxfam door).
Also, what public agency should be alerting the public about such fraudsters?

I have a feeling that these organisations pick up all the good stuff offered for free or little money on on-line sites like boards, gumtree, buy and sell and dublin waste.

I've heard Aware or someone like them collecting bags and they said they get €70 per bag. That is huge amount of money. So these fraudsters get the same.

Is there a vintage shop in Dublin? Sometimes I give away really good branded stuff completely new or almost new, its worth more than few euro than a regular charity shop would get.

Finally, from the waste and resource depletion point of view it is great that 'disposable' clothing gets re-used rather than ending as waste, but it would be even better if genuine charities benefited from it and no fraud involved.