Today I Consign To Hell -the All Saints version

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  • People who say they want things that you are offering then never show to pick them up. I offered a table on a free gifting site in our area. Three people asked to have it. I drew names and let them know who had won it and the winner never answered my message, so on to winner number two. Yes, they wanted it, then they never showed up to get it. I message them again and they said they had found what they wanted at a thrift shop. Let person number 3 know they could have it. No answer. I reposted it and person number 3 said they wanted it again. They plan to pick it up Monday. Fingers crossed. Very time consuming trying to give something away.
  • SojournerSojourner Shipmate
    There’s something to be said for leaving such goods on the footpath for scavengers....
  • Every two months we have a week-long "large item pick-up" in our alleys. We cannot put our things out until a week before. If I have things I want to get rid of, but can't (or don't want to) take to a thrift shop, I put them out a week in advance. They usually disappear right away, even if it's just scrap metal or wood. I don't think the city has ever picked up any of my things. I would much rather have someone take them who can use them than have them wind up in the landfill. Quick and easy!
  • We are not allowed to just put things out here. Donate to thrift stores are closed at the moment, Pay to take it to the dump, but hate to do that with nice things, or offer it free pick up in your house.
  • When we downsized I put loads of 'stuff' on Freecycle, from fabric scraps to a three seater sofa. I don't recall many times that items were not collected, and only one occasion when there were no takers
    It's amazing what people can find a use for!
  • Sorry for double post - but you risk being prosecuted for fly-tipping by some councils if you leave unwanted items out on the pavement.
  • Freecycle is a bit limited at the moment; it's running, but only in local areas, only if the objects can be left outside safely for the person to collect, and a whole lot of other caveats.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I'd be happy to leave the old dining table and chairs outside "free to a good home", but I really don't know if it's "done" here. Having said that, there was a bloke clearing out a cupboard in the entryway to the flats a while back, who said anyone could take what they wanted, but I'm not sure how much was taken and how much he had to dispose of himself.

    That might be my best bet: the entryway is covered, and there's plenty of room - there was an old electric stove (in much worse nick than my furniture) left there for a few days last week.
  • SojournerSojourner Shipmate
    Did someone nab the stove?
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited January 9
    I don't know; for a few days it was sitting there, and then it wasn't, so it could have been, as you say, nabbed, or someone could have been paid to take it away. It wouldn't have been much use, except for scrap - the control buttons were all missing, and it was in pretty bad shape. However, I think a good lot of the other bloke's stuff was - and there was a fair bit of it.
  • Golden KeyGolden Key Shipmate
    edited January 9
    Are there charities that will pick up donated items on schedule? Here, that would include Goodwill Industries and the Salvation Army. I know that SA started in the UK, so I presume the UK version picks things up. Dunno if you have GI there.

    ETA: "On schedule" meaning you arrange a time with them.
  • SojournerSojourner Shipmate
    In Oz we have the Salvos and Vinnie's (St Vincent de Paul Society). They will pick up but are understandably choosy about what they will accept (i.e no rubbish). A phone call to clarify always helps.

    Otheewise in most places there is a 4 monthly local council drop-your-junk on the footpath and hope toGod some scavengers will make a dent in the pile. and the Council truck pick up the rest for disposal. There is stuff Council won't collect such as motor oil, half-empty paint cans and other hazardous substances. The onus is on the dumper to take those to an appropriate place for final disposal.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I have been checking the websites of charities which will come and uplift furniture or large amounts of stuff from your home - I've had Cancer Research do this in the past. But currently, owing to COVID-19 restrictions, their shops are shut and they are not AFAICS making collections.

    In Edinburgh it used to be that the council would collect bulky items on an arranged date, for free (at first, though I think you had to pay thereafter).

    In the first instance I would check with Linlithgow Council to see if they offer similar.
  • Local council here has annual collection of empty and half-empty paint tins, but you need to bring them to a drop-off point.
  • In England, certainly, it's district council led, and you'd have to check what happens locally. We have a paid collection service, an online form that allows us to book and pay for up to 7 large or unsuitable items to be collected. The objects can then be left outside a day or so before collection with a note on them giving the collection number. The price increases the more items to be taken incrementally, so it's the same price for 5 to 7 items. It's more expensive to have one item collected on its own than it is per item for 7.

    I've done this a few times, several recently as it's surprising what picks up and retains the smell of weed. My daughter's funky luggage did a great job of scenting the entire flat. And sofas cannot be taken by charity shops unless they have the right fire certification.

    Last time I did this I had a couple of mattresses to go out so added everything else that was hanging around not suitable for the ordinary bins to get it up to seven items. The pile included a broken computer chair and some printers. I had to phone at the last possible minute to change the collection details as everything but the mattresses had been taken by some random bloke in a car looking for trash to steal.
  • PriscillaPriscilla Shipmate
    Piglet, do you have any charities working with the homeless/ abused people moving into their own properties and needing furniture? Otherwise, do you have any furniture recycling groups near you?
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I'm not sure, but I'll look into it; there are several charity shops in the High Street, but they're closed at the moment, so probably not accepting either.
  • Alas (as Boris would say), that's probably true for most of the Untied Kingdom just now.

    Do you have a Crook or a Nanny in which the redundant furniture could be stored (perhaps in a partially-dismantled state) until the charities are up and running again? If (as I suppose) it's in good nick, it will be in demand at some point.
  • CathscatsCathscats Shipmate
    Piglet wrote: »
    I'm not sure, but I'll look into it; there are several charity shops in the High Street, but they're closed at the moment, so probably not accepting either.

    https://freshstartweb.org.uk/. This group is based near you but works throughout Scotland, I think. I also am pretty sure that they are’s till working in some way in lockdown, as the problem of people needing homed does not go away.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited January 9
    Thanks for that, Cathscats, but according to the link, they're not taking anything for the rest of January.

    @Bishops Finger - the château is, sadly, not well endowed with Crooks or Nannies; the space under the bed is getting decidedly crowded ... :neutral:

    The table that's to go with the chairs is still some way from being delivered; it's still at the "we'll send you an e-mail when we're going to despatch it" stage, so I'll still be using the old one for a wee while. As the old table and chairs are very definitely a set*, I'd prefer if I could get rid of them all together.

    I'd love for someone who really needed them to get them - it's just the logistics at the moment.

    * It's an Ikea number - probably called "Splåttvørk" or similar - square table with rounded corners, with quadrant-shaped chairs that slot in under the rounded bits (and that wouldn't really work with any other sort of table).
  • Penny S wrote: »
    (It used to be little shops run by men who had been in R.E.M.E.* for National Service.) I suspect some bought up stock at closing down and have marketed it on ebay, but that only works if you know what you want.
    *Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

    *Also known by some as Rough Engineering Made Easy, but you have to know who you are talking to if you mention that. There can be consequences.
  • Happy to report the dam has broken and things are moving. Gone one table, gone two beds, about to go one chest which has 15 people interested so I am drawing a name tonight. Free seems to be a very good word after all. My goal is to post one thing a day. Feeling lighter. Guess I need to return to the de-clutter post. Hell is over.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Well done, GI! :)
  • @Piglet I find the website Nextdoor to be invaluable in all sorts of respects - a major one being for getting rid of stuff I don't want. It operates all over England, and I imagine in Scotland as well. They ask for quite a lot of information when you join, which at first I found off-putting, but a friend who works with computers assured me it was okay, they just want to establish that people joining the website are bona fide members of a local community. You can sell things on the website or give them away for free. So far I have given away a rug, a towel, and a new toilet bowel! It's also a place where people share all sorts of local info., or they put in requests for recommendations for handymen, or they just ask for help. (I put in a request for someone to help me learn how to use my iPhone, and 3 people volunteered....) It's a great website for people living alone.

    When you place info or a request on the website you can also stipulate whether you want it to go to the whole of your city, or just to districts near where you live.

    Anyway, it may not be your cup of tea, but thought I would mention it. :smile:
  • caroline444--

    ;) Hmmm. "a new toilet bowel"? If toilets have their own bowels, no wonder they get clogged! ;)
  • Well, in my long history of appalling spelling, I think I have reached new heights with that! :mrgreen:
  • DooneDoone Shipmate
    @Piglet I find the website Nextdoor to be invaluable in all sorts of respects - a major one being for getting rid of stuff I don't want. It operates all over England, and I imagine in Scotland as well. They ask for quite a lot of information when you join, which at first I found off-putting, but a friend who works with computers assured me it was okay, they just want to establish that people joining the website are bona fide members of a local community. You can sell things on the website or give them away for free. So far I have given away a rug, a towel, and a new toilet bowel! It's also a place where people share all sorts of local info., or they put in requests for recommendations for handymen, or they just ask for help. (I put in a request for someone to help me learn how to use my iPhone, and 3 people volunteered....) It's a great website for people living alone.

    When you place info or a request on the website you can also stipulate whether you want it to go to the whole of your city, or just to districts near where you live.

    Anyway, it may not be your cup of tea, but thought I would mention it. :smile:

    Totally agree, a very useful community site for all sorts of things!
  • "Nextdoor" - I find it is used a lot for complaining, mostly about the local surgery.
    I don't very often bother to open the daily digest these days.
  • Piglet wrote: »
    I'm not sure, but I'll look into it; there are several charity shops in the High Street, but they're closed at the moment, so probably not accepting either.

    Try these: Salvation Army, Cyrenians, St Vincent de Paul Society, Social Services department.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Might also be worth checking Linlithgow FaceBook pages. I've bookmarked one local to me - the Meadows Share - which is full of folk offering or asking for all manner of stuff.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Thanks, everyone - that's quite a bit to be thinking about. I've now finished assembling the new chairs, so once the table arrives (whenever that may be) I'll be very keen to get shot of the old set.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    Emmaus tarts up old furniture, employing people who need to be employed, and then resells it.
  • 👹 More fly-tipping in one of our small lanes. Builder's rubble, concrete with reinforcing rods protruding, smashed furniture and an old-fashioned chemical toilet.

    I called the local plod who were inclined to leave it until I mentioned the loo, at which point they took a different tone.

    Drove past site on my return journey 2 hours later and there were police (2) plus 3 others in hazmat gear 😯
  • DooneDoone Shipmate
    👹 More fly-tipping in one of our small lanes. Builder's rubble, concrete with reinforcing rods protruding, smashed furniture and an old-fashioned chemical toilet.

    I called the local plod who were inclined to leave it until I mentioned the loo, at which point they took a different tone.

    Drove past site on my return journey 2 hours later and there were police (2) plus 3 others in hazmat gear 😯

    Good grief, and I get really angry about a bit of littering in our lane - what is wrong with people 😡!
  • I sometimes think there's a breed of Brit that cannot see a pretty country lane without experiencing an overwhelming urge to cover it with garbage and filth.
  • Lots of fly tipping like that around here, The ones I pass with regret are the leather sofas. I want a leather flying jacket, I have the pattern, and I've seen and left several options for material some distance from home as I didn't have the tools to skin the leather off or bag to carry it home. One was on a track leading through the golf course to some farm buildings, another on the track to the cricket ground.

    With more sympathy, one of the better local walks is currently off limits to us as the farmer is so stressed by the fly tipping on his land and I don't want to add to his stresses.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    I sometimes think there's a breed of Brit that cannot see a pretty country lane without experiencing an overwhelming urge to cover it with garbage and filth.

    https://youtu.be/KM-yIBVEgF4
  • bassobasso Shipmate
    You beat me to it, Karl.
  • If all the stuff came from the same place, it might not be too hard to track down someone local who's just replaced an old chemical loo...and to track down the gits who were supposed to take it away, and dispose of it *properly*.
  • Here we need to be very careful who we hire to take our stuff to the county dump. People are reported to pick up your stuff, receive their pay and then just dump your stuff on the road thus avoid paying the land fill fee. If it is found and identified as yours, you then have to convince them the person you hired dumped it. My answer is to make them return with a receipt from the dumb before I pay them.
  • basso wrote: »
    You beat me to it, Karl.
    I thought exactly the same thing!

    For various reasons, we go to church in another town, and have to use a mountain road to get there. Every time we travel that way, I am horrified by the amount of rubbish on the sides of the road, a lot of it being fast food containers with a yellow M on them.
  • Priscilla wrote: »
    For various reasons, we go to church in another town, and have to use a mountain road to get there. Every time we travel that way, I am horrified by the amount of rubbish on the sides of the road.
    Yes, been along there too. It's awful - and it's not the only place up there like it.

  • And it’s not just “kids” who dump rubbish - 30+ years ago we had some friends staying with us who were horrified at the amount of rubbish dumped along pretty “country roads”. (Actually local main routes from our town - they just happen to go across moorland)
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I remember hearing once that franchisees of a certain fast food company would drive round until they found an area with none of their litter, which indicated that there was a need for a branch in the neighbourhood.
    When they opened up in an ex pub at the end of the road I used to live in, they initially sponsored a bin outside our place, but this was eventually re-used for dog litter. The fast food place then used to send an elderly man up the road who did a sterling job of clearing the detritus, which particularly gathered outside us, as that was a "good" place for people to stop and park and eat, wind down the windows and drop the bag of bits on the pavement (sidewalk). He was replaced by a plump young woman who found exercise unnatural and didn't come at all unless the outlet was phoned.
    The usual place round here, a layby in a wood, has been clean for some time now, and always puzzled us as the nearest outlet we knew was about ten minutes away.
  • The sort of thing Priscilla is talking about isn't just fast food, it's this sort of thing: https://tinyurl.com/y5phvuf9
  • Ah - the layby in the wood may have been used for Other Purposes, with those awaiting some action whiling away the time by eating...

    The Other Purposes to which I delicately refer (TIACW) will have been muchly reduced by the current health crisis.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    Priscilla befinitely mentioned a letter M! And those laybys would not be of any use for other purposes - there is too much traffic too close, and the laybys or more of passing places.
  • North East QuineNorth East Quine Shipmate
    edited January 14
    The North East Man and I realised we had become Officially Old and Boring the night that we went out in the car to observe a well-publicised meteor shower and, seeing a car parked in a dark layby in the countryside, blithely pulled in assuming that the occupants of the other car were also star gazing ....
  • Anything’s possible🙀😂
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