Jersken, which supports orphaned and vulnerable children at the Jersken Little Angels home in Kenya, is now urging Islanders to contact them before dropping off larger items.
One Sunday earlier this month, volunteers went to open the shop on St Clement’s Road and found various large items of furniture including a high-chair, office chair, sofa and a dismantled cupboard and bed.
Volunteer Mialy Oporia said some of the items could have been saleable but because they had been left outside in the rain they were ruined.
‘It happens nearly every weekend. We open at 9am on Sundays but often when [volunteers] Lucy and Stef arrive, there are big items dumped outside – bed frames, mattresses, bags of clothes, sofas, chairs etc.
Sometimes these dumped items are not in a saleable condition, particularly broken and dirty furniture. Other times they may have been dumped when it has been raining, so they get wet and are therefore unsellable,’ she said.
Earlier this year Julie Jubb, senior shop manager for the Hospice’s charity shops, said fly-tipping was an issue at their store in St Ouen. She said Islanders dumping damaged goods was almost the same as stealing from the store as it cost the charity money.
Miss Oporia said ‘thankfully’ on this occasion they posted about the fly-tipping on Facebook and an Islander came to their shop to take the items to the dump on their behalf.
‘That saved us having to pay £35 for a half-day rental of a van,’ she said.
She added: ‘Please do not fly-tip outside Jersken. We are open 9am to 3.30pm on Wednesdays and Sundays. If you want to drop off larger items outside this time, please call us on 07797 850568 as we may be able to arrange an alternative time for our volunteers to help you carry things into the warehouse.’
Currently, the charity, which was founded by Lucy Falle, is seeking support to complete building work at the children’s home in Kenya.
The work planned includes adding bedrooms, a larger kitchen with adjacent dining room, a library space featuring quiet study facilities, water-harvesting gutters and a collection tank and solar panels for cost-effective lighting and hot water.
Jersken is also encouraging Islanders to become ‘guardian angels’ by donating towards the education, food and health checks of one of the children at the home.
For more information visit jersken.org.
