To think that if JoJo Maman Bebe want to collect used clothes for refugees, they need to be a bit less demanding about packaging.....

[itsgoodtobehome]

I recently had a big clear out of lots of DS' old baby clothes. I have given quite a few bags to charity shops, but still had a couple of bags left. I heard that JoJo Maman Bebe were collecting old children's clothes for refugee children, so I thought that would be a great cause to give the rest of the clothes to. So I took the bags into their shop on Saturday (they are nice clothes - most of them JoJo stuff anyway!). Initially they were really grateful. Then the shop assistant looked in the bags and said 'oh we can't take these, each item needs to be individually bagged, with a label on it indicating the size'.

I was . Now I appreciate that it's for a really good cause, and I'm probably outing myself as very lazy here, but don't most people who are getting rid of old clothes just want to do it in the most hassle-free way as possible? If I'm going to go to the trouble of bagging and labeling them all individually, then I may as well take them to one of those baby sales and sell them myself.

Anyway, the end result was that I took the bags away and took them to the next charity shop that I found. I thought it was sad that this charity that JoJo is supporting are probably missing out on a lot of donations because of this policy or is just me that is a lazy arse?

I think they will miss out on donations becuase of it which is unfortunate for the people in need really.

When I donate to charity, I always make sure the stuff is washed & clean but no way would I bag each item especially dainty dc clothes and label size etc, I do have other things to be doing

What a waste of bags if you have to label everything individually!
I'd have done the same as you OP.

From the information on their website it seems they had very specific instructions:

Bundle up into coordinated outfits you think a family in need would love to receive as a gift this Mother’s day. Outfits should contain 4 items suitable for a specific size, gender and season.

Place each complete outfit in a clear plastic bag and label your parcel with size, sex and season. Please ensure the package is clearly labelled and the bag is see through. This is to ensure the parcels will meet custom regulations.

So it was designed to parcel up the clothes as 'gifts' rather than a way to clear out secondhand clothes en masse.

The collection finished on 26 March.

Bit of a silly policy on their part, I volunteer with a charity who amongst other things collect aid for Syria and refugee camps.
It needs to be sorted by more than just size as there's a lot of images etc on our clothing that would be extremely offensive to other religions or cultures.

They offer a voucher as an incentive though, don't they?
But YANBU it did put me off as well.

It is a very specific campaign, aimed at creating parcels and not just clearing cupboards. There are plenty of charities that will take bin bags full of clothes, but the whole point of this campaign was that they were meant to be thoughtful little parcels from one 'mother to another.'

I felt like this about the shoeboxes at christmas, Filled one, realised it breached all of the regulations and siphoned the goodies off into random stockings etc. If they make it too hard to give....nobody would bother.

I know, but i think part of the gift is meant to be the thought that goes into it.

I agree with you