Edmonton MP Andy Love is warning local residents who give unwanted goods on their doorstep to charitable causes via charity bag collectors to take care in ensuring the goods will reach their genuine destination.

 Andy has added his support to the ‘Bogus Bags’ public awareness campaign which launched this week and is being led by the Fundraising Standards Board with the aim of helping the public avoid the scams and still give confidently to the charities they care about.

 The campaign has put together a simple checklist to help people identify whether the ‘charity’ bags are genuinely destined for charities, including looking for an organisation name and charity number, as well as the Fundraising Standards Board tick logo on the bags.

 Charity collection bags are an important way of not only reducing waste and being environmentally friendly, but also of generating vital funding for good causes.  Sadly, the number of complaints reported about bogus bags has increased by 100 percent in the last 12 months, costing UK charities up to £50 million in lost fundraising every year.

 Supporting the Bogus Bags campaign, Andy said…

 “We are aware that there are some bogus operators collecting goods and giving the false impression that they are being sold for charitable causes, or even stealing genuine full charity bags.

 “It’s a shame that charities are losing out when they desperately need support.  So this Christmas, if you’re giving to charity, please make some simple checks so you can donate with confidence.”