A Buckinghamshire charity shop manager has spoken out about the growing problem of donations being left outside closed stores, saying it is ‘demoralising’, due to the extra work and cost involved.
Ann Rarity, manager of the Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care shop in Flackwell Heath, said staff regularly arrive to find piles of bags and boxes blocking entrances after people have left good outside when the store is closed.
Her comments come after photographs obtained by the Bucks Free Press showed bags of clothing and other items abandoned beside a donation bank on Cressex Road during wet weather.
Some of the clothes appeared to have been scattered across the ground, prompting criticism from residents.
One resident described the scenes as "a disgrace".
They said: "I think it is a disgrace that people think it is normal to leave clothes, which are in good condition, dumped on the street in the pouring rain.
"It is lazy and downright obnoxious.
"Just take it home or physically go to a charity shop."
Mrs Rarity said the problem was not unique to donation banks and was something charity shops encountered on a regular basis.
"You come into work on a Monday morning and all you can see in front of your shop is a wall of black bags, boxes etc," she said.
“It's very demoralising.
"Quite often things have been rifled through and strewn across the pavement so then that's a work job in itself just to clear it all up and re-bag it."
While many people leave donations with good intentions, she said those items can quickly become unusable if exposed to rain or bad weather.
"If the weather's bad and it's all got wet then it's having to go straight into the bins," she said.
"We have to pay for our bins to be emptied so that's an extra cost for us. People just don't realise that."
Ms Rarity added that unattended donations can also attract opportunist thieves or become damaged before staff have the chance to sort them.
"We lose donations if people take them and sometimes the bags are opened and things are left all over the pavement," she said.
She also claimed some of the items being left outside appeared to be unsold stock from car boot sales rather than genuine charitable donations.
Charity shops rely heavily on donated goods to raise funds for their causes, but managers are urging residents to ensure items are only left during opening hours or at approved collection points.
The Free Press has approached Buckinghamshire Council for comment.
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