Hand of Help is not a charity

Please be warned that a company is posting yellow clothing donation bags through peoples doors (Werneth this morning).

With my help an article was published in the Oldham Chronicle a few years ago regarding clothing collections. The vast majority od collections are made by private companies who have very tenuous links with genuine charities. Steve Playle a Trading Standards Officer and Team Leader at Surrey Trading Standards Service investigated Hand of Help in August 2009 and was unable to get a response to his phone calls and e-mails. In July 2009 the Advertising Standards Agency ordered them to change their advertising as donators were mislead that the charities named were UK based. They were not as Hand of Help only donated to Lithuanian organisations. In February 2011 they were  told by ASA to change the way they worded their clothing bags. The wording on the bags implied they were a registered charity rather than a registered company. Obviously these companies make a lot of money just by associating themselves with a charity. I recieved a similar flyer recently. The leaflet would appear to be from a charity called Tree of Hope Children's Charity. The leaflet is actually delivered by a company called SOS Clothes Ltd. Their website claims they donate £60 to Tree of Hope for every tonne of clothing they collect. Sounds very charitable but what is the going rate per tonne?..well my local clothes recycler pays £500 per tonne so that's quite a tidy profit.