Majority of charities report rising abuse towards shop volunteers

Seven in ten charities say their shop volunteers or staff have been verbally abused when asking customers to comply with coronavirus safety measures, according to a survey.

Seventy per cent of charities surveyed by the Charity Retail Association ( CRA) said t hey had r eceived r epor t s from their shops of abusive behaviour. CRA'S 440 members make up around 9,000 of the UK'S 11,000 charity shops, and 184 responded to the survey between 12- 14 October.

One r e s p o ndent s a i d a n elderly volunteer was sworn and spat at i n one of t heir shops. The CRA was also told of an incident in which a customer threw stock at a volunteer who asked them to sanitise their hands.

I n another i ncident, t wo staff members were verbally abused when asking someone to put on a face covering. The customer then coughed in their faces.

The survey also found more t h a n h a l f o f r e s p o n d e n t s ( 53 per cent) said abuse has increased in the last month.

The CRA is launching a campaign, # Shopsafeshopkind, to encourage shoppers to be mindful of their behaviour towards staff and other customers and wear a face covering, unless they are exempt.

Robin Osterley, CRA chief executive, said: "We saw huge amounts of ki ndness and camaraderie from the public during lockdown and as shops reopened, we want to bring back this sense of togetherness. It is a source of sadness to us that charity shop workers are being subject to abuse, especially as the majority are giving their time and skills on a voluntary basis.”