OVERWHELMED by the number of syringes, dirty clothing and broken toys dumped in the Salvation Army’s donation bins in McNamara Street, the charity has taken the extraordinary step of phasing out the bins.
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The charity will remove the bins within the next couple of weeks and only accept donations at its Summer Street Family Store.
Salvation Army Captain David Grounds says the four bins are more trouble than they are worth.
He said the area around the bins was often littered with donated items, which had been picked through by scavengers.
“People make a mess there and it needs to be cleaned up every week,” he said.
“Sometimes people will leave things which are dirty, smelly or wet and these things ruin the good donations. We get some really great quality things given to us, but they can be rendered useless.”
Captain Grounds said the safety of his team was paramount and syringes were often found amongst the donated items.
“We don’t want to expose our workers to that sort of risk,” he said.
Captain Grounds said the decision to remove the bins had not been made in hast and had been done in consultation with the church’s council and staff at the Family Store.
He did not expect the number of donations to decrease.
“The quality of what we have will improve because all of the good things won’t be spoiled,” Captain Grounds said.
People wanting to donate to the Salvation Army should use the Peisely Street entrance to the Family Store where workers can help carry items from cars into the store.
The store is open from 9am to 4pm on workdays and on Saturday mornings.
