‘Fashion police’ too fussy over donation
I TOOK A substantial bag of warm children’s clothes to the constables’ office in Town. They were all good quality and perfect for the horribly cold conditions the refugees are facing.
Not according to the officials on duty. They refused to accept any clothes that weren’t brand new. Do they honestly think mothers of small children will object to the provenance of clothing when they are clearly desperate?
Hopefully these bureaucrats will look at the scenes on the Polish border and realise that their new-found role of fashion police needs rethinking.
Yours in frustration
ROB DAVIES
Castel
Natalie Silvester, managing director, Silvester Group, replies:
Thank you so much for making us aware of this complaint. The Humanitarian Aid Guernsey charity have been so grateful for the island’s continuing support and we are truly grateful for all donations. We’ve had so many volunteers helping out that it has been difficult to manage those who are better placed to be public-facing and those whose skills lie elsewhere. We have also had storage issues, so the huge volume of clothes has at times been difficult to manage. However that doesn’t excuse rudeness so we unreservedly apologise to anyone whose donations have been turned away or who has been made to feel undervalued for their kindness.
We are resolving our storage issues and are happy to take all donations going forward. We now have volunteer co-ordinators supervising the drop-off site and they are happy to field any issues the public may have.