Calls have been made for charities and recyclers to get a grip on collections from Plympton’s clothes banks after many are left frequently overflowing.
Former Plympton Stannator Andrew Hill said he was ‘exasperated’ after being unable to find a recycling bank with capacity to take a bag of clothes he wished to get rid of one Sunday last month.
He said: “I spent a significant part of the afternoon unsuccessfully trying to donate a large bag of clothing to a good cause.
“I dropped into Sainsbury’s at Marsh Mills only to find the two Oxfam containers stuffed full and not able to get anything more prized into them.
“At the Mudge Way car park the British Heart Foundation collection point was overflowing onto the floor and the nearby blue clothes bank was so full you couldn’t pull the tray open to put any more in.
“Then at Chaddlewood the Salvation Army clothes bank was also full with a surplus starting to build up on the floor which will not do it much good in wet weather.
“The fact all these bins are so full does demonstrate how generous the townsfolk of Plympton are in supporting good causes but by the same token it is important the organisations running these clothes banks ensure a sufficient frequency of collection to pick up the donations being made.”
Local councillors have also been calling for action to be taken in relation to the overflowing containers.
“If a clothes bank is full … and creating an obstruction, then we would encourage members of the public to report it to us via our website.”
Chaddlewood Councillor Glenn Jordan said:
“I and Councillor Terri Beer as well as other Plympton Councillors are regularly taking this up with the council to get them emptied and the areas around them cleaned up.”
A Plymouth City Council spokesman said:
“We work closely with the owners of the clothes banks in Mudge Way and Chaddlewood car parks.
“Although we are not responsible for emptying them, we have agreed the siting of the banks and can ask the company to tweak the collections schedules if needed.
“If a clothes bank is full, and the contents are over-spilling and creating an obstruction, then we would encourage members of the public to report it to us via our website.”
One charity has already agreed to add an extra collection day following the highlighting of the problem. Millie Caffull, communications manager for the Salvation Army, said:
“Until now, collections took place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Thanks to the diligence of the public and for this message in particular, we have increased the collection frequency, so that collections will now take place on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.”
The new collection rota started at the beginning of October.
Ms Caffull added:
“If this or any other clothing bank is found to be full, donors are encouraged to call the helpline number displayed on the clothing bank to make us aware of the problem. When the helpline is called, a collection takes place within 24 hours.
“We ask that donors do not leave their donations outside a full bank as this encourages further fly tipping and can damage the donations. Instead, donors should keep their donations and deposit them when the bank is empty, which should be the following day.”
The British Heart Foundation has also pledged to review its collections from the container in the Mudge Way car park.
PR manager Janelle Butterfield said:
“The bank has a collection twice per week on Mondays and Thursdays. Apparently this bank gets filled quickly hence the two collections. They usually collect 20 to 25 bags per time.
“The team will continue to monitor the banks and assess if there needs to be a more frequent collection service.”
Meanwhile Planet Aid UK has recently set up a clothes and shoes bank at the Brook Inn in Plympton St Maurice. A further new clothes bank has also recently been installed by the Tesco Express in Westfield.
