Sheep’s head, Kermit & prosthetic leg among weirdest items donated to charity
Melanie May | 23 December 2016 | News
A sheep’s head takes first place in the top ten oddest items donated to UK charity shops as revealed by Charities Aid Foundation this week.
Charities including Oxfam, Guide Dogs For The Blind and Cancer Research UK submitted items for inclusion. The donations have either been left at charity shops or bequeathed as legacies. One of the most unusual items donated via a CAF charitable account was a Central London townhouse.
Items donated to different charities include a Doulton Faience ceramic vase, which was spotted by valuers working for Oxfam. Known as a moon flask because of its shape it was given to one of the charity’s high street shops. The piece, which was dated circa 1890, sold for £2,400 at auction in June 2016.
The top ten, and the charity each item was donated to are as follows:
1. A sheep’s head (Sue Ryder)
2. A prosthetic leg (Emmaus)
3. A ventriloquist dummy (British Heart Foundation)
Advertisement
4. A Victoria Cross Medal (CAF)
5. Property (ranging from a townhouse in Central London to rural chocolate box cottages)
6. A moon flask (Oxfam)
7. A pair of canaries (Cancer Research UK)
8. A live ferret (Blue Cross For Pets)
9. A wedding dress used in an episode of Coronation Street (Guide Dogs For The Blind)
10. A Kermit The Frog puppet from the 1970s
Joanna Walker, head of private clients at CAF said:
“People think about giving money, but it is fascinating to see all the surprising and strange items which have been donated to charities either via charity shops or bequeathed as legacies.
“Works of art and property can be hugely valuable to charities and provide enormous support for their work. The popularity of vintage chic means that one person’s junk may be a charity’s treasure and can be used again to provide vital resources for the causes we care about.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.