# Theft of donated goods left outside charity shops

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2003/04/17/theft-donated-goods-left-outside-charity-shops/
- Published: 2003-04-17T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The Daily Mirror today highlights the theft of donated goods left outside charity
shops.
Readers had contacted the newspaper claiming that such theft was rife in 
their area, so the newspaper set up “stings” outside charity shops in London, Oxford,
Cardiff, Ilkeley and Didsbury.

A box of donated goods was left outside a charity shop and a photographer lay in
wait to record what happened. In some cases they didn’t have long to wait. Passers-
by rifled through the donated goods and some took what they wanted.

While many left the box alone, in some cases opportunist thieves tried to take the
whole box.

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While there were some heartening stories of honesty, including that of the woman
who, alarmed at the possibility of theft, took one box into her house in order to
give it to the charity herself the next day, the message was that such theft was
commonplace.

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