Pictures show a wild sprawl of charity donation bags across a Cardiff supermarket car park. Dozens of green recycling bags, black bin bags, and shopping bags full of clothes could be seen on Saturday afternoon scattered next to the four clothes banks at the Tesco Extra in Gabalfa.
The donation points for the Salvation Army and Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital bear the words: “Clothes and shoes — Please fill me with hope.” Many of the clothes have been left loose in a big mess outside the Excelsior Road store.
The Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital charity, which supports the children’s hospital at the University Hospital of Wales in Heath, said in a statement earlier this year: “Our longstanding partnership with Tesco went from strength to strength in 2023 when we were given the go-ahead to expand the number of Noah’s Ark clothing banks in Tesco car parks to every Tesco Superstore and Extra store in Wales.
Bags of clothes scattered next to the four clothes banks at the Tesco Extra in Excelsior Road, Gabalfa
“Next time you have unwanted clothes, shoes and handbags, please consider going to your local Tesco store and putting the items into the Noah’s Ark charity clothing bank. Every donation really does makes a huge difference.” For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
While the intentions may have been well-meaning, bags left outside of closed charity shops and clothing banks is considered fly-tipping and is illegal.