An agency that works with charities has been rapped by a regulator for sending out unwanted clothing donations bags
An agency that works with charities has been rapped by a regulator for sending out unwanted clothing donations bags.
The Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) ruled that Clothes Aid had breached a section of the Code of Fundraising Practice after one person complained they had received “a number of unwanted clothing collection bags in recent years”.
Clothes Aid describes itself as a social business and works alongside charities to collect clothes from the public, which are then sold on to stock second-hand European department stores.
At the time of the complaint, it was working at the time with a number of charities, including the NSPCC.
This impacted on the complainant’s right to privacy, constituted harassment and demonstrated a lack of respect
According to the report, the complainant first contacted Clothes Aid in September 2007 to request that no further bag deliveries be made but they subsequently received “a further five instances of collection bags being delivered to the complainant’s address by Clothes Aid, four of which had been delivered on behalf of the NSPCC”.
On 5 November 2015, the complainant contacted the NSPCC directly as well as the FRSB and said they had “a sign on their door at the time which made it clear that they did not wish to receive such materials”.
The FRSB concluded that such incidents impacted on the complainant’s “right to privacy, constituted harassment and demonstrated a lack of respect for their wishes to not receive unwanted marketing materials”.
Clothes Aid has since overhauled its training programme, reinforced the company’s complaints procedure and temporarily suspended delivering bags to all households displaying no junk mail signage, and removed the complainant’s entire street from all future distribution lists.
The FRSB did not uphold a complaint made against the NSPCC.
Michael Lomotey, business manager at Clothes Aid, said: “It is with huge regret we have received this complaint, but I believe that the mitigating processes we have now put in place will protect and prevent any other future incident happening of this nature.
“We have fully taken on board all of the findings and recommendations of the FRSB and through regular reporting and tighter account management with our charities, I feel confident that this will contribute towards stopping any similar future complaints being made.”
