Oxfam Ireland shops stock 'critically low'
Howard Lake | 2 February 2011 | News
Oxfam Ireland says the volume of donations of stock to its charity shops has fallen dramatically in the past couple of years and it has left stock in Oxfam shops at acutely low levels.
Oxfam Ireland is calling urgently for donations of books, CDs, DVDs, shoes, belts, handbags, dresses, shirts, trousers, suits, wedding dresses, homewares and any item of good quality that will sell.
Speaking on Irish radio, Trevor Anderson, Head of Oxfam Retail, said that the recession and the availability of cheap new clothes may be having a negative affect on donations.
Photo: danpea on flickr.com
Oxfam Ireland said that it can raise, on average, around €35 from a donated bag of clothes in good condition; a paperback book sells for around €3 and DVDs of feature films also fetch an average of about €3. Designer shirts for men that retail new for €80 to €120 will allow Oxfam to raise from €12 to €20.
Oxfam said that their appeal for donations had been ‘spreading like wildfire’ on Twitter in the last week.
In 2009 Oxfam Ireland’s shop income was €6.7 million, a similar income figure to 2008. Shop expenses, at €5.6 million, are also similar in both years. Of total income in 2009 of €16.7 million and €17.1 million in 2008, shops was the biggest source of income.
www.oxfamireland.org
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.