Lancaster hospice shops bust ‘rag man myth’

When people donating the ‘wrong goods’ to St John’s charity shops, it is costing the charity hard money to dispose of them.

Like many other charity shops across the UK, St John’s Hospice shops are facing mounting financial pressures as the cost of disposing of poor-quality donations rises sharply.

In fact, the charity often spends more than £1,000 a month to dispose of goods they simply cannot sell.

Donations of large quantities of unsaleable items including stained and torn clothing, damaged shoes, broken toys and faulty electrical items cannot be sold, and they must pay to have these items removed.

Specialised disposal of certain items, such as hazardous waste e.g. old electricals or broken sharp items adds further cost and complexity.

Laura Stanbridge, head of retail at St John’s Hospice, said: “This is a shocking figure but currently we can spend over £1,100 a month on waste disposal alone.

"It’s an urban myth we can make money from the ‘rag man’. Since the pandemic, the price of rags has collapsed from 42p per kg to just 10p or below per kg, and that’s if the rag man has the capacity to take it.

"Add to this number of unsalable goods, it means our shops now often pay to have low-quality clothing removed, instead of using it to raise money for hospice care.

“The rise in unsaleable donations essentially leaves us with two choices, which both cost a lot of money – we pay the ‘rag man’ to take it away, or pay for increased bin collections and waste removal.”

Nichola Tomlinson, shop manager at St John's Hospice Caton Road store, said: “The good news is that this fixable. All people need to do is consider the quality of items before donating. The message is clear: ‘If you wouldn’t give it to a friend, please don’t give it to us, the wrong items may actually cost us money.”

“By donating better quality items, St John’s supporters can help our charity shops ensure more funds go directly to supporting vital patient and family care in the Hospice and in patients’ homes, rather than being spent on costly waste disposal.”

When the ‘right donations’ are made it makes a huge and positive difference.

St John’s Hospice shops currently sell good and high quality items that amount to more than 1,300kg of clothing per week, 100kg of shoes and about 100kg of bric-a-brac. When the right donations come in, they raise vital funds for local palliative and end of life care.