Barnardo’s reveals 2021’s weird & wacky charity shop donations
Melanie May | 22 December 2021 | News
A set of false teeth, a scorpion, a slice of pizza, and a farmer’s castrating tool are just some of the strange donations Barnardo’s charity shops have been gifted this year.
The charity has around 620 stores across the country with staff and volunteers grateful for donations – although possibly not the ones that have made it on this list.
Barnardo’s retail staff in St Andrew’s received a scorpion in a jar of formaldehyde, since donated to the university, while in Glasgow, a handbag was donated with a set of false teeth inside.
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Staff in Catterick were delighted to receive a quality man’s coat, only to discover a slice of pizza inside the same bag.
In rural Kendal staff were bemused to receive a farmer’s lamb castrating tool. And in Worksop someone thought that a bag of moss would help the charity raise funds.
Santa’s reindeers may have already enjoyed a donation in Wolverhampton as it consisted simply of several ends of carrots. And a tin of crab meat ‘best before 2015’ was unlikely to be a best seller in Pitlochry, Perthshire.
Strange donations in recent years include a bag donated to its Glasgow store containing a bird which, to paraphrase the Monty Python scene, definitely wasn’t asleep. Similarly, in Warrington, a hamster’s cage was donated – with a dead hamster underneath the sawdust.
As the song goes “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth…”. But shop workers in Rotherham were given a pot containing nine human molars.
One bag of donated infant’s clothes contained the baby’s dried umbilical cord and belly clip.
Bizarre health and body-related donations include: a pelvic floor exerciser (Bury St Edmunds), used pregnancy test kit (Glasgow), a packet of Viagra tablets (Rotherham), suppositories (Rotherham), a bottom wiping tool (Gravesend), a urethral catheter and urine bottle (Lincoln), a haemorrhoid cushion (Wolverhampton) and a used toilet brush (Colwyn Bay).
In one of its London stores someone donated a set of four portraits of historical figures in matching frames – Mussolini, Chairman Mao, Vlad the Impaler, and Margaret Thatcher.
Staff in Stoke on Trent were tickled by the message that accompanied some good quality men’s sports shorts which read: “Wear these at your leisure, wear with pride and pleasure, and keep them safe to treasure. Geoff. X.”
One of the most heart-warming donations to its store in Worsley, Manchester, was a child’s drawing whiteboard on which a message read: “Thank you Barnardo’s – you helped me find my forever family.”
Barnardo’s is sharing the strange donations received at its stores as part of an appeal for people to donate their unwanted Christmas gifts to their local Barnardo’s charity shop.
Managing Director of Barnardo’s Trading Companies, Roy Clark, said:
“Most of us have received Christmas presents that may be of good quality and cost a fair bit – but are just not suitable for ourselves. So instead of putting them at the back of the drawer and forgetting about them, why not donate?”
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.