Spurious charities collecting in Shopping Centers/Malls where Tesco is the anchor.

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fizzelina

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A good few times now I have been at my local Tesco shopping centre and seen a desk and a charity collector there within the centre asking people for donations, yesterday it was for the "Irish Lung Cancer Foundation". Previously it was for a Downs Syndrome charity.

The DS charity was not a registered Irish charity, my brother has DS and I never heard of the charity and even checked with DS Ireland. I also approached the collector who could not show me any documentation and was very shady about the charity registration and where the money given is going
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Yesterday I was annoyed seeing people give money to yet another "charity" collecting there which does not have a registered charity number. I can't find any record of a Irish Lung Cancer Foundation.

Previously when I phone the Guards over the DS charity collector they were very uninterested and said I'd have to take the matter up with the Tesco manager and I could not get hold of him.

Does anyone else experience these "fake" charities collecting around the country?
 
Just just Tesco, but pretty all supermarkets.

At least the collector didn't try to forcibly pack your bags for you. Those guys really grind my gears.

Make a complaint in writing.
 
Howitzer said:
Just just Tesco, but pretty all supermarkets.

At least the collector didn't try to forcibly pack your bags for you. Those guys really grind my gears.

Make a complaint in writing.
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Usually GAA teams collecting money for a 'clubhouse.' (i.e. bar to sell cheap drink to the oul lad members.)
 
Now Bill, that's nearly pathetic. It is not just GAA clubs that pack shopping bags in supermarkets, I have seen rugby clubs, hockey clubs, swimming clubs, athletic clubs, soccer clubs, in fact every kind of club, well, nearly every kind of club.

I can say that in the case of my own GAA club all monies donated in supermarket collections go to the running of underage sections. And to be fair to the local supermarkets it is the local clubs are allowed to pack groceries.

Nearly forgot, you dont have to contribute if you so wish.
 
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Practically every time I go into Tesco in Rathfarnham on my way home from work there's a pack of kids at every single checkout packing bags to raise money. I have no problem if it's for a charity or a needy case but I am fed up being asked to donate to school trips etc. Rathfarnham is a pretty well heeled area and I don't think most of the local kids are deserving cases. If they were packing bags to raise money for the Simon Community or the VdeP or something, I wouldn't mind. Also they should only be located at some checkouts, not all, as some people find it embarassing to say 'no' and pack their own groceries and should have the option to use a checkout without bag packers.
 
We also have people in our town collecting for 'The Homeless' or 'The Disabled' some other vague cause with a high-vis vest and scratch cards.

The are quite aggressive and stand outside the Post Office door and the largest Newsagent's door and will almost block your way as you come out asking for donations.

I saw the Guards a couple of weeks ago stop their patrol car and move one such collector away from the door of the Newsagents.

I don't think they're legit and wouldn't give them anything, but why isn't someome, Guards, Council, Charity Regulator, checking to see who they are and what they are collecting for?
 
charity collections

In Galway you cant collect anywhere- and I mean anywhere- without being in possession of a permit to collect which is locally issued. The local gardai take exception to the use of a permit granted at the other end of the country and will usually move you on very swiftly

westgolf
 
I don't mind proper charities collecting. It not too much to throw a euro or two into their bucket.

But like others have said, it the likes of the karate clubs, the cycling clubs or the football teams etc looking for money to fund a trip somewhere that annoys me. If these folk are there its hard to say to a youngster "no I'm not giving you anything young fella/girl cos I don't think you are deserving of it".

I blame the supermarkets for letting 'undeserving' people collect.
 
I don’t have a problem if they want to pack my bag I just smile and say ta very much...but I never give to anyone collecting for charity anymore. One reason is they usually use open top buckets (instills confidence and transparency) and secondly I have no way of knowing the money is going to where its supposed to. Therefore I usually give a donation to a reputable charity once or twice year and I know where and what its doing (and no it not a few pennies..or rather cents)
M
 
The buckets are usually placed where my messages need to go...

We get www.sari.ie collecting in my supermarket. All the collectors are coloured people...why?
 
I don’t have a problem with people collecting at checkout. But it bugs me that it is kids and they haven’t a clue what they are doing.

Putting a 2 litre carton on milk on top of cakes. Grrrr
 
Complain to Tesco and if it is ignored that they are allowing unregistered charities to collect on their premises, threaten to go to the local press, bad publicity seems to be one of the few things that works!

The checkout collections do bring in a lot of money, I know someone who organises them for a number of clubs and schools. She said they are told to always ask first if the customer wants help with packing and if they say No then to move to another checkout or simply stand back. I never have a problem with refusing and I don't donate to something I have no interest in.

The ones that annoy me most are the chaps who regularly set up with a table and chair outside both the post office and credit union which are on the same street collecting for some vague charity in aid of "young men with drink and drug issues" I have complained as have others to the managers of the CU and PO to be met with a "sure they are not on our premises what can we do" attitude. The in your face-ness of Concern collectors would come in a close second:(
 
I simply never donate in the street/in public.

I would certainly never ever give a cent to any open bucket merchants.

To be honest I feel like reaching out and taking money away from those who pester me a traffic lights, just as compensation for the annoyance.

All the collectors are coloured people
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Good God - I thought that phrase went out in about 1974 !
 
One of the problems I have with those bag packer collections is that the bucket often seems to be strategically placed so that you can't see the label stating who the collection is for. That really shouldn't be allowed.
 
JP1234 said:
Complain to Tesco and if it is ignored that they are allowing unregistered charities to collect on their premises, threaten to go to the local press, bad publicity seems to be one of the few things that works!
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A Letter has been sent by me to the Tesco store manager and I sent a copy of it to the local newspaper also for them to pick up on the story, I totally agree that people should be aware that they are not registered charities and then let them decide whether to donate but at the moment they could well think they are giving to a specific charity with a similar name. I find they always seem to have an unregistered charity with a similar sounding name to a registered well known one. I am going to follow up on this until I get some answers from Tesco.
 
I dont like being accosted by anyone looking for charity. If I wish to donate to charity I will do so in my own time, to a charity of my own choosing. People annoying me at checkouts, on the street, at my front door - get nothing.

In the supermarket I prefer to pack my own goods - I usually try to get a box or use my own bags and I like to pack them myself so I can ensure the weight is not back breaking, and so I can seperate things in a sensible manner.

I have no qualms about telling anyone that I prefer to pack my own goods, or that I am not interested in donating to whatever charity (or pseudo charity) they are jingling buckets under my nose for.

I probably come across as cold and rude to these people but Ive bigger things to worry about than what some randomer in the supermarket thinks of me.
 
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