Hospiscare charity's £32,000 bill for unwanted donations

Helen Hutter of Hopiscsare: "We would like to have more people selling things rather than sorting them and putting them in the bin"

A charity faces an annual bill of £32,000 to dispose of donated items that it cannot sell.

Many of the donations are stained, spattered in paint and in one case a child's potty was soiled, said Hospiscare.

"It's not just about donations being pre-loved, it's also so they are ready to be loved by somebody else," said retail manager Helen Hutter.

The Devon charity is urging people to call first before donating.

The charity has 18 shops across the county and raises about £8m a year to support people with life-limiting illnesses.

It calculates about 20-25% of donations can be sold in the shops, another 55-65% are recycled while about 20% goes away as commercial waste.

On Thursday, the Charity Retail Association urged people to call and check before they dropped off donations at charity shops.

The charity said about 20% of donations have to be disposed of as commercial waste

Ms Hutter said the "quite staggering" waste bill would pay for a senior nurse to care for the charity's patients.

The charity recycles unwanted donations that it can not sell "where we possibly can, but the remainder then goes to waste", she said.

"We've had boots with concrete on which have just had to go straight in the bin, tea pots without a lid, chipped glasses.

"We would like to have more people selling things rather than sorting them and putting them in the bin."

Checks like making sure that buttons were intact, clothes were without holes and "not splashed with paint", would help "save the charity money which could be spent on care".

The charity is urging donors to call one of its 18 shops first to discuss what they want to donate, and is restricting shop visits for donations to appointment only.

"If you wouldn't buy it, please could you dispose of it in your own bin," she said.

"We all want to work together and make more money for our patients, and that has to be a great thing."