Oxfam gives bogus charity warning

Oxfam in Ireland has warned householders against door to door clothing collectors who do not have a registered charity number and may be selling on the items they collect. Oxfam is reporting a drop of 25 per cent in shop donations because of the growth in 'bogus' charities.

The flyers issued by some collectors state that the shop donations are being used to help the poor in the Third World, however, the majority of the organisations are not registered as charities and are run as commercial enterprises.

Trevor Anderson, Oxfam's retail manager and chairman of the Irish Charity Shops' Association, is calling on the Government to ensure that door to door collections are regulated under the promised charities legislation presently under consideration.

Another major charity retailer, St Vincent de Paul, reports that it has not noticed a decline in donatiions.