Charity's plea to chain stores as donations fall

Big name stores based in Worcestershire are being asked to donate their end-of-line clothing stock to the Daisychain Benevolent Trust Fund, which has been collecting cash for good causes since 2003. The plea has come as charities face a tough time convincing people to dig deep during the recession.

Charity director Davina Roberts said end-of-line stock from name brands would boost the amount of money they could give to the Midlands Air Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Support.

“Big stores do support charities but usually they’re national ones,” she said.

“Where you do find them supporting locally-based charities, they tend only to be local to that company’s head office rather than breaking it down to local charities.”

She said the credit crisis had affected how much second-hand clothing the store was getting from donors, with people holding on to more expensive items rather than getting rid of them.

“I think maybe because people are not throwing out as many things we’re not getting the better quality items,” said Mrs Roberts.

“Then our prices become low and it limits the amount of money we can raise.”

Greg Rowe, a fellow director, said the big name labels brought more people into the fund’s stores and allowed them to generate more money. “We try and get as much money as we can out to the charities and last year, for example, we raised £103,000.”.

Its first shop opened in St John’s in 2003 and the trust has grown to eight stores across the Midlands.

The trust’s ethos is that people shopping in its stores can know their money is directly benefitting charities operating locally.

In St John’s, Worcester, where it runs separate clothing and book shops, the takings go to the Midlands Air Ambulance.

The trust also receives hundreds of requests for small grants every year and relies on a band of more than 200 volunteers to keep running.

To get in touch or find out how to volunteer, visit daisychainbenevolentfund.co.uk or call 01905 739087.