When Oxfam closed its shop in Spalding in 2021, residents were deprived of a method of donating to appeals such as that in support of the Ukraine. However Spalding people may be unaware of another process currently impeding their chance of making a positive difference.
The mess frequently seen around the Oxfam collection bin in the car park near Sainsbury is evidence that donations are not being collected very frequently; but in fact they are not being collected directly by Oxfam at all. If you call the phone number on the container you are put through to a company called Textile Recycling International, whom Oxfam clearly contracts to collect on its behalf.
Charity notwithstanding, potentially this is a lucrative trade. The Guardian reported some years ago that such a company was paid nearly £11m for such collection work by another charity, The Salvation Army, and that its highest paid director received an average salary, bonus and pension contribution of just over £1m each year.
Textile Recycling International, on the other hand, is clearly not doing well, and the mess is not only in evidence in the car park. According to Companies House information, Textile Recycling International is currently “in administration”, and has failed to submit accounts from 2022, which are now significantly overdue.
Oxfam obviously did not properly consider the damage to its reputation and appeals when they made the bad decision to close their shop.
G Kent
Pinchbeck
