http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk 19
YOUR LETTERSshutter speeds and what
appears to be termed fine
art/minimalistic
photography. Last month I
upgraded back up to a full
frame (mirrorless) camera
and purchased 6/10 stop
ND filters. I was away in
Weymouth for the
weekend and tried it. This
image above was taken at
ISO 50 at two minutes.
Although I have never
used any editing suites,
I recently downloaded the
free Lightroom app which
I am still on a learning
curve with. Hopefully, we’ll
soon be able to explore
new places and horizons
again. Richard Lear
Charityshops
As an amateur
photographer and a
long-standing charity shop
volunteer I would be
interested to know where
Mr X (name and address
withheld) heard that
volunteers often steal the
high-value donated items
for themselves. (Inbox, 18
September) It is true that
a large proportion of
donated items are
discarded due to being
unsuitable, filthy, worn-out,
badly damaged or
completely broken but I
can assure him that here
at Oxfam, items that are
of high value are either
placed in a glass cabinet
to protect against
shoplifters, sold via our
online shop or if very
valuable, sent for auction.
This may be the reason
why, as he mentions ‘it is
now rare, as a shopper, to
find a treasure among the
junk’ and not that it has
already been ‘snaffled up’.
At Oxfam, if a volunteer
is interested in buying an
item, the item is priced by
the manager, if not already
priced, using online prices
and the item is then
bought and the sale is
recorded in the Staff
Sales Book.
I would add that if you
suspect that a shop has
dishonest staff, like Mr X’s
thieving friend of a friend,
you should notify the
charity concerned. I’m
sure that most people
realise that the vast
majority of charity shop
volunteers are there
because they want to help
to raise money for good
causes and not to make
money for themselves
through thieving.
But if you prefer to sell
the item yourself online
and donate the proceeds
to a charity and are a
taxpayer, remember, you
can use the government’s
Gift Aid scheme to
increase the value of the
donation to the charity by
25%. Martyn PearceUpset
We were very upset by a
letter published in AP on
18 September under the
headline ‘Charity Thieves’.
We have worked in our
local Oxfam charity shop
for more than ten years
and have never seen any
of the behaviour that your
writer claims his ‘friend of
a friend’ told him about.
As volunteers, which all
but one of the workers in
the shop are, we give our
time freely and if we want
to buy an item which has
been donated we pay what
any customer would pay.
We feel that you should
not have published this
claim based on hearsay
evidence. All charities
have suffered in the Covid
pandemic and by calling
our honesty into question
you are only making it
harder for charity shops to
raise funds for their many
good causes.
Fiona and Eric HuckvaleAlthough it isbeyond
dispute that there are
pockets of dishonesty in
every field of human
activity we’re sure that the
vast majorityof those
people who giveup their
time to volunteer in
charity shops would not
dream of behaving in this
way. Apologies for any
offencecaused.Richard Lear’s long-exposure seascape taken in Weymouth
©
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