There are so many charity here in UK, it's really difficult to know which is which, whom they are working for.
Some charity give you a plastic bag, the collection information printed on the bag. We use these big plastic bag as bin liner.
We never donated anything to charity. When we moved home from Northern Ireland, we called to a charity to come and collect anything we couldn't bring with us, but the charity van had been fully booked for next two weeks, we couldn't wait for so long, so we threw most of the clothes and gave other things to our neighbour -- an Indian family.
Most of charities can take anything, but SOS Children Charity only takes such as ladies, gents and children's clothing, etc, including - shop stock, underwear, nightwear, bedding, sheets, curtains, household linen, towels, socks, paired footwear, hadbags, belts and soft toys. They don't accept books, bric-a-brac, or glass.
I am quit impressed by the warning (emphasized by CAPITAL LETTERS and red color font): BEWARE OF THIEVES - our collectors carry ID cards and our vans carry our logo. Please check if you are not sure.
Some people complained on internet forums of eastern European immigrants stole their charity donation in front of their door beside the road. M. Ma said, British people are quit hypocricy, how could they accuse European workers stealing their charity donation? if someone is so poor that he/she steals those second hand clothes, that means they NEED it, what's the different between donating to a charity then being distributed to charity objectives and DONATE directly to somebody who needs it?