Bexleyheath charity shop forced to bin donations left piled high outside

By Kiro Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A charity shop has become so popular residents are dumping their donations outside of it every week – despite appeals from staff to stop.

The Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice Charity shop in Bexleyheath has become inundated with items from people from the community, who have resorted to piling it outside the shop door when the store is closed.

The problem became so bad that staff couldn’t even get through the front door  in recent weeks.

Pictures on social media show the items piled up outside the store, which contain clothes, furniture, bric-a-brac and rubbish according to employees.

They have called on residents to stop leaving items outside as it is no use to them.

One staff member, who wished not to be named, said: “We can’t actually sell them. They get rummaged through or stolen or the foxes go all over them so we have to take them down the rubbish.

“It happens every week. There’s always something left outside the shop.

“It takes hours out of your day. They had it here the other week and you couldn’t even get through the front door.

“We encourage people not to leave donations outside but obviously they do. They know we’re not going to be open on a Sunday or a bank holiday Monday and they still leave it.

“We’re used as a dumping ground. People know it’s rubbish and they’re going down the tip with it but they see us, know we’re a charity shop, and think ‘yeah they’ll take anything’ and it’s a cost to the company to get rid of it.

“It cost us a lot of money and that extra money we can put towards the doctors and nurses and helping the hospice out.

“The money we raise goes towards the hospice and it helps the patients, nurses and doctors and helps buy equipment. We help out also at Queen Elizabeth Hospital so it’s not just the hospice, our work goes to the whole community too.”

Resident Ben Walker snapped one of the shocking images of fly-tipping outside the shop.

He wrote on Twitter: “The state of Pickford Lane today. When will the council step up and mitigate the relentless and unacceptable fly-tipping outside the Charity shops? Donating decent goods to charity shops is of course the right thing to do but just leaving unwanted items isn’t.

“Make sure the shop can actually accept the goods first, don’t just dump them when the shops are closed, leaving a total eyesore for local residents the following morning.”

Fly-tipping is a criminal offence which can result in heavy fines and a criminal record for anyone found guilty of the act.

Bexley Council have been contacted for comment.