Charity shop rant

They lose their benefits.

So what if they refuse?

"Forced to work for no wages, Gwenhwyfer? How can you be forced to work? Because your benefits might be compromised, I suppose..."

Yes. People are being forced to work for no wage (not quite for free, but a whole week of 30 or 35 hours for 70 pounds a week). They are forced to work for no wages and charities that exploit them should be ashamed.

I know this is beside the point, but donator appears to have its roots in Latin;

"The terms in the Latin text are donator, a giver of a gift, and donatus, a receiver."

...and from this American novel more than a century ago;

"This subtlety was past the vision of the donator of the Dabney House.

V. V.'s Eyes Henry Sydnor Harrison "

I didn't know any of this but was curious and looked it up.

Meanwhile, back on topic, the Gift Aid giving for other charities (PTAs, for example) has been simplified recently. I'm surprised charity shops haven't been able to use the revised rules tontheir advantage and make it easier for those donating (see what I did there?)

As you were.

This and the "letter to volunteers" thread show just how many people despise others who volunteer their time. Sad, and a very odd attitude.

Entitled to what exactly? Entitled to give their time up to help out? Some of them may lack customer service skills but the same can be said for some people who work in shops and supermarkets.

Not RTFT but I do know that most staff are volunteers and think they are doing everyone a favour by being there. Hence are selective about what they will do and aren't always pleasant to customers and don't see the need to be, or offer any kind of customer service.

There's not much worse than an entitled and sanctimonious volunteer.

Duh! Don't know why I used the word donator! I know the word is donor! Must have been having a brain fart.

My local charity shop is staffed by horrors as well. I think they think because they are volunteers that somehow they're a cut above everyone else and forget that the people who have gone to the bother of sorting, washing, bagging and delivering donations are also doing A Good Thing. I've recently found another local charity who will come to collect my offerings!

I used to run a charity shop. Normally they'll have one poorly paid manager and the rest are volunteers. In general, you're not overwhelmed by volunteers. It's not exactly glam volunteering, no one wants to do it because they are building up their CV/want to work in charity etc. I'd say maybe 30% of the volunteers there even care about that particular charity. The majority are either retired, and want a bit of routine/social contact or if they are younger have had issues finding work/suffer with some kind of SEN or MH issues.

The other thing I'd say is that the old dragons, as people call them, totally exist, but a lot of the time are the most reliable volunteers - the ones who always turn up, come rain or shine (which is definitely not always the norm), the ones who stick around long enough to know how the til works, the ones who will hang around to count up at the end of the day. So you have to balance your desire for nice smiley customer service staff, with your desire to have enough volunteers to open the shop at all.

Forced to work for no wages, Gwenhwyfer? How can you be forced to work? Because your benefits might be compromised, I suppose...
How is that equate to working for free?

You have a bit of a thing about older women, Cara.

You are aware that most of us become old, one day?

So you can see what takes doctors and experts quite a while to diagnose? Wow you have quite the gift...

We have someone in their 60s with SN in our shop so I'm not sure whether she comes into the category of 'having SN' or being 'old'?

Read the posts properly. I have not said they have been unpleasant to me. Let me know if you need me to simplify for you.

The people who have SN are younger and yes, I can tell. It's quite simple without going into personal details.

Fair play Cara you obviously have a magic radar that tells you when someone has SN

And if women are generally nasty to you, could it be you that's the issue?

Have only seen the dragon version in female form in charity shops, as others have noted too - and posing as dentists' receptionists or as receptionists in GPs' surgeries.

Ghastly women.

Why do they let those old dragons volunteer? THEY are the unacceptable face of the shops, imo.

We have older women in our dhops. Wouldn't describe them as dragons though. What about our older male volunteers? Are they dragons too?

You also seem to be under the impression that people are queuing up to volunteer at charity shops. Not the case.

Tbf Cara I don't imagine they feel the need to be especially nice to you if you have that attitude!

Wow. Old dragons? Really?

I'm always conscious that some people working in charity shops may have some level of invisible SN (as I know a few in the shop in which I volunteer have) so I don't really judge. They are volunteers, not staff.