Article: Money: Charity shops and the cash that won't reach the needy

If you want to combine bargain hunting with altruism, the obvious place to go is a charity shop. Finding one shouldn't be difficult. It is estimated that, following rapid growth over the past few years, there are now more than 5,000 charity shops in the UK.

But few shoppers really know how much of the money they spend benefits charities. In fact, while the shops are a very useful source of income for charities, purchases are an inefficient way of donating your money. On average, 73p of every pounds 1 you spend is soaked up in the expenses of running the shops, according to a survey published last year by the magazine NGO Finance.

Charity shops have become big business. The annual income of ...

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