We all have items in the wardrobe or in presses or indeed on shelves which cause clutter in our homes and at this time of year we usually do the big clear-out as part of the Spring clean.

This is when most people become ruthless and decide to abandon any thing they no longer really need. Giving goods to charity shops is an excellent form of recycling. The charity shops use your donated goods to sell, which enable them to generate funds to carry out their work.

Age Action, the national organisation on ageing and older people and their carers, have raised concerns over the recent reduction in donated merchandise to their charity shops. Like many charities, they drop a bag in letterboxes and a note is usually provided which indicates the type of goods they collect, the time and date that will call to collect the donations or the empty bag if you have nothing to donate, as this bag is then reused.

A spokesman for Age Action said there are a number of commercial outfits collecting house-to-house in Ireland, with the emphasis on the greater Dublin area.

These are not genuine charities. The net result of this is that genuine registered charities are feeling the pinch.

When Age Action drops bags in a target area they usually collect approximately 20% which contain saleable goods: this has unfortunately dropped to as low as 10% this year. This is having a severe effect on charity fundraising throughout all charity shops and outlets.

So before you do a clear-out and pack off your not-so-favourite items into a charity bag please check that you are donating to a genuine charity. In particular, Age Action would like you to consider their charity. They also offer a pick up service.

You can contact them to either verify that the particular charity you wish to donate to is genuine, or to arrange a collection for Age Action shops at (01) 4756989. If you have donated to Age Action in the past, they would like to thank you and hope you will remember them in the future.