John Phillips AN award-winning clothes charity has seen collections halve to 500kg a week as families keep their garments and stop renewing their wardrobes. The Osborne Partnership, Osborne Square, Dagenham, realised donations had fallen after resuming collections with

John Phillips

AN award-winning clothes charity has seen collections halve to 500kg a week as families keep their garments and stop renewing their wardrobes.

The Osborne Partnership, Osborne Square, Dagenham, realised donations had fallen after resuming collections with a new van, replacing its 1.5tonne trailer, which was stolen in November.

The recycling charity, which sends unwanted and second-hand clothes to people in developing countries, hopes the donations will pick up with the traditional spring clearout.

Charity project manager Ian Wall, 37, said: "People are not buying clothes. They're counting their pennies and they're not throwing as much away.

"The credit crunch is definitely affecting everybody. At the moment we're getting half a tonne a week.

"If people don't go out and spend money, they don't go through their wardrobe throwing away the clothes they have got."

The charity, which gives work to 20 disabled people, scooped the best recycling project award at environmental awards organised by the Recorder's parent company, Archant, in November.

The Osborne Partnership raised �600 last week by staging a four-mile charity hike in Dagenham to buy gym equipment and give healthier lifestyles to its workers.

Mr Wall remains hopeful the cash will be "matched" by a �600 donation from banks Abbey or Lloyds Banking Group, despite the economic downturn.

He said: "We still get a good response. The public are very, very helpful.

"They understand the problem we've had with the vehicle. They're bringing their clothes to us."

The �1,300 single axle trailer that was stolen by raiders, who broke into the charity's yard, has not found and police have dropped their investigation due to a lack of evidence.