News: January 2012
Northern Ireland Charity Retail Conference 2012
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Wednesday 14 March 2012, NICVA, Belfast
Sponsored by Impress Publishing and Kudos Software Ltd, this event is the only event specifically for charity retailers in Northern Ireland.
Titled Strengthening your position in the charity retail sector, the 2012 Northern Ireland Charity Retail Conference will focus on some of the most important issues facing the sector including: stock, bogus collectors and legislation specific to Northern Ireland. Delegates can update their knowledge in our practical and informative focus sessions, can share ideas with other charity retailers, and meet our sponsors over refreshments and lunch.
The Northern Ireland Minister for the Environment, Mr Alex Atwood, MLA, will be the keynote speaker at the 2012 Northern Ireland Charity Retail Conference; he will address attendees on the Government's environmental policies and the impact these will have on charity shops.
There are a wide range of focus sessions to choose from, including:
How to Use Social Media to Increase Your Customer Base
How to Develop Specialist Shops in Niche Areas
Matching the Right Volunteer to the Right Role.
>> Book here before Friday 17 February for EARLY BIRD PRICES
Four bursary places are available to those attending from smaller charities and hospices. See information below.
Northern Ireland Bursary places: four available
Our 2012 Northern Ireland Charity Retail Conference is a fantastic opportunity for charity retailers to update their knowledge, network and learn more about the issues facing the sector.
This year, the Charity Retail Association, supported by Impress Publishing Ltd and Kudos Software Ltd, are offering four bursary places to those from smaller charities or hospices that need financial assistance, covering the following:
- Half the Charity Member fee. Bursary winners required to pay £52.50 towards their place*
- Lunch and refreshments.
* Full delegate price is £105 for charity members and £115 for other registered Charities. All bursary winners, both members and non-members, pay £52.50 towards their place.
Deadline: Monday 20 February 2012. Bursary winners will be notified by Friday 24 February 2012.
Further information: Contact Paula at paula@charityretail.org.uk or 020 7255 4470.
Download the bursary form, selection criteria and T and Cs
Choose Charity Shops campaign
Our Choose Charity Shops campaign will launch in the week of 14 May 2012. This is intended to be an exciting, sector-wide campaign which will help members generate more over-the-counter stock for shops. We are currently working on the final posters for shops, and we’ll be in touch when we have these ready to roll out. In the meantime, please contact Isabelle Adam for further information on 020 7255 4470 or isabelle@charityretail.org.uk.
Charity Commission alert
Potential risks when charities get involved in tenancy agreements linked to business rates relief
"The Charity Commission is aware of cases where charities are being approached by retailers and landlords of hard-to-let property to enter into tenancy agreements that would relieve the landlords of the requirement to pay full business rates. Equally, some charities are actively marketing their willingness to enter into tenancy agreements with commercial landlords.
This can be advantageous for charities and provide good opportunities for them to lease accommodation for low or nominal rents. They may also sometimes receive charitable donations from landlords that reflect a percentage of the business rates that they would otherwise be liable for.
However, it does also raise potential risks for the charities involved if they do not follow a proper and reasonable decision making process before entering into these tenancy agreements, and if they are not physically occupying the premises.
We have received information from a number of local authorities concerned about situations where charities are entering into tenancy agreements on commercial property but where in practice the property is, or appears to be, empty. Charities often claim they require the properties for storage or other purposes.
As the regulator, we are concerned that these charities may find themselves involved in what local authorities might consider to be business rates avoidance by landlords. This could potentially result in charities losing the discretionary discount and being required to pay 20% of the business rates.
Before entering into any tenancy agreements to occupy empty properties, charity trustees need to:
- be assured that the tenancy agreement is for the exclusive benefit of the charity, will further the charity's purposes and is in its best interests
- ensure the property is genuinely required and is fit for purpose
- consider the potential liability of the charity to pay outstanding rates if the local authority disputes occupation and refuses discretionary rates relief
- very carefully safeguard the charity's independence and ensure the charity is not being abused for the benefit of a commercial company
- where appropriate, take suitable professional advice, including legal advice, before entering into a tenancy agreement
The Charity Commission has been made aware of over 700 tenancy agreements where this may be the case. We have been examining whether the trustees of the charities involved have properly discharged their trustee duties when making the decisions to occupy those properties to further their charitable purposes, and whether any benefit to the landlord is incidental to that."
Events
Yorkshire Members’ Meeting (Non-members are welcome), Wednesday 22 February, Leeds
Be in the know! Get the latest charity retail and CRA news, make new contacts and get your questions answered at the Yorkshire Members’ Meeting. This meeting is free to attend and will update charity retailers on the following main topics:
- Choose Charity Shops Campaign – be the first to hear all about our national stock-generation campaign, due to launch on 14 May 2012. Preview the campaign materials, learn how to use them most effectively and hear about the media support we will be giving our members.
- Our latest lobbying and political work including: our defeat of a proposal from the Accounting Standards Board on a requirement to value stock at the point of donation; our ensuring that there were no calls for a cap on the number of charity shops in the Mary Portas High Street Review; a look at how a review of the 2006 Charities Act might affect the way House to House collections are regulated.
- What we can learn from Research – Get the latest research news on what the public think about charity shops and how charity shops are managing to weather the recession.
The meeting will kick off with coffee and biscuits at 11am, lunch will be provided and the meeting should end by 3pm.
Environment Interest Group, Tuesday 28 February 2012, CRA Offices, London
Our speaker will be Lucy Norris, Anthropology Researcher at University Colleague of London who is currently working on a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and it is part of the Waste of the World Programme.
Panipat (India) is the world’s largest textile recycling hub, producing reclaimed ‘shoddy’ wool yarns and blankets out of used clothing. The industry sources its materials from the international worn clothing market, including the UK. The working conditions there are well below any standards we would find acceptable in the UK. She wants to talk to the charity retail sector to explore what we could do as a sector to prevent textiles donated to charity shops in the UK from ending here. There are potential reputational issues that could damage the sector.
In addition to this discussion, we will update members on policy issues and various pieces of work including the Choose Charity Shops stock campaign.
People Management Interest Group (PMG), Tuesday 3 April, CRA Offices, London
What are your key HR/people-management priorities for this coming financial year?
This question will be the main focus of discussion at our next PMG meeting. Other agenda items include:
- Learning Needs Analysis
- CCTV
- Government’s new Work Programme.
This is an excellent opportunity to share knowledge with other charity retail professionals with an HR background in a friendly and informal setting.
WRAP’s call for help on an important project
Calculating the displacement effect of donated goods
Reuse of second-hand items is seeing a resurgence in the UK, and Governments are looking at ways to encourage an increase in this activity. As charity shops are such an important part of local communities providing second-hand items WRAP would like your support in an important project.
The Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) is working with RMG:Clarity, an independent Market Research Agency, to understand how many second hand purchases replace new product sales.
To do this RMG:Clarity interviewers would like to be placed within or close to your shops to undertake a face-to-face interview with shoppers after they have made a purchase.
The interviews will be taking place in February and March 2012, with days and times flexible.
Ensure your involvement: register now by emailing your contact details to saadiah.rifin@rmg-uk.co.uk. Alternatively, and for more information, call Ms Saadiah Rifin on 02920 435807.
The information from this research will help highlight the importance of the charity retail sector and will be part of an important project which will inform policy development. The Association encourages members to help with this project.
Furniture and electrical goods from local authorities
The Furniture Re-Use Network (FRN) has commissioned an operational guide for re-users by WRAP. The guide sets out the requirements and standards expected for bulky re-use services either through local authority (LA) household collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC).
The Association has been asked to collaborate with FRN to make sure the concerns of charity retailers are taken into account.
Are you interested in opportunities to access re-usable goods (bulky/furniture/electrical appliances etc) from local authority sources?
Are there any legal and practical barriers that are preventing you from getting furniture and electrical goods this way?
Get in touch with Cristina on cristina@charityretail.org.uk or 020 7255 4471 as soon as possible to make sure your questions are answered in the guide.
Annual Awards 2012: Get involved!
Take part in the Annual Awards 2012! These are the ONLY awards made specifically for charity retailing and they aim to recognise, celebrate and motivate charity retail performance. The Awards entry brochure will be sent to members at the beginning of March but we wanted to encourage you to start thinking about it, and get your regional and shop managers involved at an early stage.
As in previous years, the awards will include:
- Shop Team of the Year
- Retail Staff Member of the Year
- Volunteer of the year
- Young Volunteer of the Year
- Green Initiative Award
- Innovation in Charity Retailing Award
- Most Valuable Item donated
- Most Unusual Item donated
- Most Supportive Supplier to the Sector
- WOW! Factor Awards (best shop window and best interior)
What you can do now...
Get your shop teams ready to take photos of those GREAT WINDOW DISPLAYS and LOVELY INTERIORS, or BIZARRE DONATIONS. We have seen some very interesting press releases about unusual donations this year.
Get them to think about a YOUNG PERSON that is GOING THE EXTRA MILE to help you raise funds for your cause.
Think about a SHOP TEAM that has been AMAZING through these difficult times and deserves to be rewarded.
Please do not hesitate to contact Cristina if you would like more information about this at cristina@charityretail.org.uk or call 020 7255 4471.
Security and the BRC Retail Crime Survey 2011
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has published their Retail Crime Survey 2011. It shows that:
- the retail sector is increasingly being targeted by serious, organised criminals
- the number of robberies has increased by 20 per cent since 2010
- the average cost per incident went up 17 per cent from £847 to £989
- over 35,000 retail workers suffered from physical attacks, verbal abuse and anti-social behaviour (excluding staff affected by the Aug. riots) in 2011
- an estimated £147 million worth of goods were stolen by customers across the whole sector, up £10 million on the previous year
- there were 1.5-2 million customer thefts in the year; as with burglary figures there were fewer incidents than in 2010, but with higher value goods being taken
- after customer theft, fraud is the most costly aspect of retail crime
- there has been a sharp increase in criminal damage incidents instore
- employee theft is lower than in 2010, accounting for 3.7 per cent of all retail crime by value.
British Retail Consortium Director General, Stephen Robertson, said:
"Retailers have made significant investment to protect their staff, stock and premises from opportunistic crime. The falling number of many types of crime is testament to the sector's own efforts. What is left is a core of more serious and organised criminals who are making off with goods in larger quantities and of higher value. These are violent law-breakers who pose a danger to society at large, not solely the retail sector... An understanding of the link between retail crime and serious, organised crime is particularly important as the Government moves forward with its plans for a National Crime Agency and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners. Retail crime doesn't only affect shops and retail staff. It impacts directly on communities, does further damage to our struggling high streets and encourages wider criminal activity. Anyone deciding local policing priorities needs to recognise this and give retail crime the priority it deserves."
Download the BRC Retail Crime Survey 2011
Setting up and Running Charity Shops - an essential guide
by John Tough
John Tough’s Guide to Setting Up and Running Charity Shops is still available to purchase direct from the Association, for the members’ only price of £29.50 (£49.50 for non-members). This reference text takes you through everything from finding good premises, staff and stock, to pricing goods, managing your outlet and promoting your charity. Purchaser feedback has told us that is great for those who are new to the world of charity retail, be they shop managers or more senior people who need to know exactly how much hard work goes into running a store.
>> Go to Setting up and Running Charity Shops order page
You can pay for it immediately, with a debit or credit card thanks to Paypal, or alternatively wait to be invoiced and send us a cheque or bank transfer.
Website fact
In addition to the guidance chapters contained within your Members' Handbook, we also have a collection of resources available to download from the members' area of the website.
These include: presentations on Gift Aid; sample agreements and job descriptions; CPS advice on prosecution of bag thieves.
The Charity Retail Association, as previously trumpeted, is now on Twitter, the micro-blogging website. If you haven’t done so already, you can find us at @charityretail.
Over the last few months, we have gained around 250 followers – from charities and their staff to interested journalists and supportive members of the public – who automatically see our tweets in their friends’ feed. But we can potentially reach millions.
We have found Twitter to be a nifty way of keeping in touch with charity members, commercial members, and the public. We can answer any questions put our way on there, even indirectly, as by doing a daily search for people mentioning "charity shops" we can easily find out who has queries and comments.
In an average week, we will:
- link to interesting charity-related stories, and press coverage we have been involved in
- provide information on what the Association has been up to, and campaigning for
- direct people towards charity shop locations using our online mapper
- give tips on what can and can’t be sold instore
- retweet other Twitterers, who have said positive things about charity retail
Member news
An evening of great Irish traditional and Celtic rock music with all profits going to Harrow Mencap
The Irish group Seanachie Og will be playing at the Harrow Arts Centre on Saturday 11 February at 7.30pm. They are making no charge to Harrow Mencap for this performance. In the last eight years the band has travelled all over Ireland, to the south of France, to Estonia and to the United States. On St Patrick's Day this year they will be playing at Trafalgar Square in the morning and back to their roots in Barnet in the evening.
Tickets are priced at £10 and are on sale through the Harrow Arts Centre box office, or contact Doreen Luff, Head of Business Development, Harrow Mencap, 3 Jardine House, Harrovian Business Village, Bessborough Road, Harrow HA1 3EX, tel: 020 8869 8484 or 07939 718146.
Harrow Mencap will use all profits to directly support adults, young people and children with learning disabilities. The event is expected to be a sell-out and nearly 100 tickets have been sold already - so please get your order in quickly to avoid disappointment.
The Bulletin is mailed monthly to over 500 charity retail contacts. If you are interested in advertising any vacancies or properties in the Bulletin, please email Michelle or call 020 7255 4470.