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Stone charity shops get creative with unsellable donations

Rag merchants, home collections and car boot sales are just some of the ways charity shops in Staffordshire say they are dealing with poor quality donations.A recent BBC investigation heard from staff at charity shops in another part of England who felt they were being used as a bin, with problematic donations including damp clothes and dirty Richards is chief executive of the Staffordshire-based charity AED Donate, which offers free defibrillators and has has opened a second shop in Stone."We're zero-landfill as an organisation, so we will recycle pretty much everything," he promised. "It does cost. There is a trade waste aspect to that. But people do tend to give us really high quality items."In the investigation, the BBC found staff who said their week could involve rifling through 100 bags of donated clothes, much of it Charity Retail Association insisted current industry conditions were a "blip". Stone's high street has six charity shops, all with their different ways of dealing with unwanted Mitford, at The Children's Society shop in the town, uses a rag merchant to make money from any clothes not fit for she said she would welcome any clarity from those donating, to make the process simpler."They will come and say these items are not for sale, they'll actually write on the bag 'rags' so we know we can get the money for them," Ms Mitford said. Adele Allen manages the Cats Protection branch shop in Stone and has her own feline-themed method of repurposing."People buy rags for sewing, crafting, we've got volunteers that make cat beds, cat blankets and anything to do with crafting," she Allen admitted she had to be "picky" about what was sold in the shop and had sold lesser quality items at local boot said she was grateful for all donations made to the charity but asked people to be selective."If it's really damaged, broken items, try and take it to the local recycling centre," she asked. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.