You may have read my last post on an incident in a charity shop in Sydney recently where my donation of a dress was taken and tried on immediately in front of me. I wrote about it here. This is not a common occurrence anymore as so many of the charity shops have become more corporatised. Vinnies in particular is very professional in that respect…in the city anyway I can not speak to the way things are done in the country where there is usually only a paid manager and volunteers.
I have had so many great experiences in charity shops helping people with choices and oftentimes doing repairs for people who cannot normally afford a dressmaker. Not to mention the fabulous clothing and antiques I have found! But like so many things in life when something does go wrong it really leaves a sour taste and impacts the way I perceive the charity and their shop and ultimately how much I donate and buy.
Obviously I have an issue with abuse of donations. To me it is dishonest and does not honor the intent of the donor. I consider selling things at too low a price an abuse of donations as well. I am not alone, MARY PORTIAS, who instituted changes in Save the children shops in Britain said herself that she had not given any of her own designer clothing to charity shops because they would not know what to do with them.
What really galls in Australia anyway is that there is nowhere to go with complaints or incidents. Overseas there are many Charity Oversight Committees, etc. Britain also has a Association of Charity Shops where good things and bad can be reported. Oftentimes it is enough that one has been seen to be heard. As you know I am still in the middle of the VINNIES thing. The bullying issue is so pervasive in VINNIES that the head office formed an investigative committee but even they cannot effect an apology or make changes. They can make suggestions I believe….the charity shops are only one arm of VINNIES which is a huge retailer in NSW …on par with WOOLWORTHS I believe. So they have a huge task ahead of them where the culture of bullying is endemic.
The ONE NOFFS shops which are under the direct supervision of RUPERT NOFFS likewise have a problem during the week anyway in that apart from a select few ladies they have largely well intentioned but mostly unprofessional volunteers who often when I am there spend the entire time checking out clothing for themselves. Yes in front of me…you would think they would have enough downtime that they could at least do it when the shop is empty. Rupert is so busy in my opinion running new venture after new venture that he has let the charity shops that already exist slide. Unless of course there is a television crew or newspaper reporter around. When I first met him he was excited about the shops and the opening of the new shop on Elizabeth Street however as far as I can recall the warehouse was not even mentioned in the ABC Compass programme THE NEW NOFFS. Of course that could have been the way the ABC cut the show but it is interesting that the staff at the warehouse shop did not know about the programme and were most distressed to be out of the loop.
After I published my last post two days ago on the dress being tried on Rupert Noffs contacted me and asked me if I would take the post down saying “please please please remove it it” and “it would be helpful if you did not post blogs on this”. Maybe I should not be surprised after his response to my previous email when I mentioned that the staff did not know about the COMPASS PROGRAMME. I also sent a copy to his father as I saw he was the CEO of the NOFFS FOUNDATION and was answering the commentors on the ABC website….and he is the age of a lot of the volunteers in their shop.
“Wesley doesn’t recall conversing with you. Where did you write this? I hope not on a public domain. This will put a lot of stress on my family. More stress than there already is.”
So I am left with getting the word out on my own blog so that people are aware of what happens to their donations and also to people who try to bring attention to something….for the public good. I think that is what galls me the most about a lot of charities…not just shops attached to them…transparency and accountability. I would appreciate any ideas on how to go about getting some kind of Committee or Association going and who to contact about it.
And this is what bloggers do…. get the word out…it is not spreading hate as Rupert Noffs seemed to think when he said in his email to me.
“lets spread love not hate…we are a charity”
