Dodgy charity collections...

LadyMayBelle

Got a slip of paper thru the door earlier handed in by two girls; literally a ten inch strip of receipt roll with a red hand stamped 'christmas scene' on it.

The text is as follows (spelt and formatted as such also):

Christmas-a miracle of
time,
When all hope and look
forward to
But not all come in the
expected and the most
wonderful...
If you can please donate
to those those who are
currently
desparetesituacion
Sincery gradititude

There is a list of days that the collection will take place.

Now I'm not once to avoid giving to charity and to those who need it, but it bugs me when unregistered "charities" come looking for stuff/money. Has anyone else received stuff like this...I know those bag stickers come in every now and I understand ones from Enable or Age Action but some are just for 'charity'...any other experiences? I might post a pic of this docket later as it's very dodge..

civis_liberalis

Please post a pic.

Unregistered charities should not be allowed to operate. There is a reason that charitable organisations are required to register.

One has the right to assume that they are not collecting for "charity" if they are not attached to a legitimate organisation.

happyoutish

LadyPennyworth wrote: »

Got a slip of paper thru the door earlier handed in by two girls; literally a ten inch strip of receipt roll with a red hand stamped 'christmas scene' on it.

The text is as follows (spelt and formatted as such also):

Christmas-a miracle of
time,
When all hope and look
forward to
But not all come in the
expected and the most
wonderful...
If you can please donate
to those those who are
currently
desparetesituacion
Sincery gradititude

There is a list of days that the collection will take place.

Now I'm not once to avoid giving to charity and to those who need it, but it bugs me when unregistered "charities" come looking for stuff/money. Has anyone else received stuff like this...I know those bag stickers come in every now and I understand ones from Enable or Age Action but some are just for 'charity'...any other experiences? I might post a pic of this docket later as it's very dodge..

If you don't mind me asking.. what part of town was this? You can PM me if you want.

Its just terrible that people are using "two girls" (Children) for their own dirty benefit! Then again maybe these girls were acting alone!?!? You never know these days!

LadyMayBelle

No problem. The Ballybrit area on the east of the city. Well used to those mysterious non registered charities leaving in stickers for bin bags but this is unique..why do they do it. Poor kids too ..these pics don't do it justice but it is just a strip of receipt roll:

happyoutish

Thanks

If the girls come back I would try and keep them there and call the police!! Little pups!!! :mad:

Thanks for the heads up!! If they come near Bushypark I'll run them!!!

LadyMayBelle

What's the right thing to do in a situation like this; I doubt they are very needy for free clothes (in fact it doesn't indicate whether they want clothes/food/money/prayers etc) and I was assured they were pleasant..should I be reporting this as they are technically doing something wrong?

happyoutish

LadyPennyworth wrote: »

What's the right thing to do in a situation like this; I doubt they are very needy for free clothes (in fact it doesn't indicate whether they want clothes/food/money/prayers etc) and I was assured they were pleasant..should I be reporting this as they are technically doing something wrong?

hmmmmm I suppose there is two ways of looking at this:

1. Being kids they might think they are doing a good thing and making people aware of the less fortunate, elderly etc.
2. Chancing their arm.

Maybe if they do come around again you could ask them why they are doing this and what exactly they are looking for.

If they say money I'd ask them who are they going to give the money to etc..

If is sounds fishy then i'd call the police..

Every charity has to be registered doesn't it?

Maybe I was jumping the gun a bit on my last post! Benefit of the doubt and all that!!

Madame Razz

There's also the guys that come around some of the pubs with a box collecting for a charitable organisation that has no info about it online.

Have also seen one of them collecting on shop street. Very fishy. Was told before it was a scam and am inclined to believe it.

Anybody else encountered these people? They often hit the pubs down west.

biko

Fake charities are b****ds, now no-one trusts collecting charities any more because of these thieves.

Gadfly

I get these stickers for clothes bags almost every week. :mad:

I put them in the bin.

biko

How to spot the thieves an other info

http://ocaoimh.ie/89492907/do-not-delay-how-to-spot-a-fake-charity-flyer/

http://cgarvey.ie/blog/archive/2008/08/20/fake-clothes-collections-charities-a-new-twist/

http://www.rte.ie/tv/theafternoonshow/2008/0414/consumer576.html

Sponge Bob

Posted OVER 3 years ago and before the ocaoimh link which has good supplementary data. If anything there are less of the ***** around now overall but it is not just clothing either.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054966195

Magnus wrote: »

How to spot the thieves an other info
http://ocaoimh.ie/89492907/do-not-delay-how-to-spot-a-fake-charity-flyer/

Mrs OBumble

In fairness, your begging letter doesn't say "charity" on it.

They're not claiming to be collecting for anyone else other than themselves, so I don't think they're breaking the charity laws. They're not offering to take away all your rubbish, so probably not breaking the waste-collection laws either.

If they have to do this sort of stuff to make a living, then I'd say they probably are "less well off" than I am anyway, and I'm unemployed! (That doesn't mean I'd give them anything though.)

At least these folks are honest, unlike the lads outside the supermarket etc doors in town who are collecting for registered charities, and I'll bet giving the bare minimum to the disabled children etc. (I've been told that the amount the charity needs to get is quite low, haven't seen an exact amount though.)

EdwardSav

About a month ago I spotted a guy sitting outside a Centra with a table and a bucket. He was collecting for an animale charity but it just looked all wrong. Like he'd mocked it up himself. But most people dont look too closely at people they're generally trying to avoid. I was able to watch him from my window. First he had a bizarre argument with a couple in a car who he seemed to know. Then the guards drove past and he packed his whole operation up instantly and disappeared.