Establishment of Charity Retail Association for Sustainability

Charity Retail Association

This is a family aid organisation funding education with donations. It intends to work with already existing aid organisations and a cotton/textile industry as a charity retailer. Recruiting volunteer staffs. The charity shop driven force is the resale of donated goods to sponsor poor and out of schoolchildren quality education. The collection of donated items is done in bags and boxes by a collecting service. The charity store will operate in developed areas (especially near to prime shopping streets in Yaoundé). Its ambit is increasing sales to promote education.

Opening

Introducing charity retailing in Cameroon can solve sustainability issues on education. This project is nothing new in the western world for example Horne (1998), study on the United Kingdom (U.K) charity retailers revealed they encourage the recycling of goods, increase awareness of the aid organization, and offer a fund-raising channel. According to the study charity shops existed in the 19th century and when it became important, Oxfam was the first in the UK around 1947. This study adds that a lot of money can be raise in charity shops when it operates in a better professional and commercial way.

A well-known charity organisation in Europe with charity shop is the Salvation Army. It is a Christian social organisation with over 300 charity retailers and recycling in Australia, with high returns over the years. It provides shelter and affordable food packages to the homeless, financial assistance etc while enabling the unemployed to secure a job and change their lives. Other charity retailers in Europe are Imperial Cancer Research fund, Brotherhood of St Laurence. (Podkalicka & Meese, 2012). An author like Horne (2000) research on charity shops show that charity shops are mostly located in well-developed towns and cities, most charity organisations expands to retailing because they want more money to meet their purposes like promoting education, religion, relief poverty, recycling etc. they are easier to raise funds independent of Government grants and personal donations. Horne states that the most significant expansion of the shops in the UK began in 1980s when the economy was experiencing increase disposable income, and surplus goods. According to Horne, charity shops moves from one category to the other (Example, Oxfam now has shops in all categories) and its role vary between a social service intention across to a commercial orientation. The various categories classified by Horne and Broadbridge include:

• 1st category: Charity shops selling only donated goods (most shops begin trading in this category)
• 2nd category: Charity shops selling donated goods and brand-new bought-in goods for example Oxfam, Save the Children and Sue Ryder.
• 3rd category: charity shops selling only brand-new bought-in goods

Charity established retailers has as obligation to their donors to maintain administration expenses low and the public expects costs to be minimal since a charity shops is a medium for aid. (Horne, 2000). Other authors like Parsons and Goodall (2000), state that the total amount of sales and revenue raised in charity shops depends on the location of the shop, the quality and branding of the goods for sale, the pricing policy and the commitment and professionalism of the team and management. The shop customers are of all age groups but mainly elderly women, low-income earners (the unemployed and the elderly). From researches, there are shops in UK who run charity shops for poor countries in Africa commonly known as African Charity shops; for example, we have SOS Africa Charity Shop and Hospice Africa Charity Shop. Charity shops are not common in African countries, very few countries like South Africa (example: Junkie Charity Store, Bounty Hunters Charity Shop), in Zimbabwe (example: Zone Charity shop, Pensioners’ aid charity shop) in Nigeria (example: The Hope for Us). Generally, funds raised from this store are used as donations to charity organisations of their choice in the nation for education, health care, raise social awareness, injustice etc. Donated goods are recycled, re-sparkled, upcycled, and restyled for resale reducing the tonnes of household’s textiles and items going into the soil.

Authors like Barry, (2012) article claim that African population exploded around the 1980s, because of that Africans lacked clothes, there was need to donate more clothes that are used, quality and new ones sold in the Charity shop in UK while the rest sold to African countries generating great revenue. Studies like Farrant et al (2010) show that clothes reuse can significantly contribute to reducing the environmental burden of clothing. However, Hansen (2000) book showed that donated clothes retailed in Africa made charity shops in western countries to run multi billions while African local textile industries are threatened, and raises offensive questions about environmentalism in these countries. Education is a catalyst for development. Children, therefore, are dependent on adults to ensure that their environment is safe to realize their capabilities with and through education. Education and poverty are one of the fundamental issues faced by Cameroonians (the UN in Cameroon Annual Report, 2016). The report further revealed that in 2017, about 450,000 children of school age 3-17 years will require humanitarian help and most kids in Cameroon drop out after primary school and only an insignificant number continue until university due to the lack of funding. Burns (2010) observed that the dimension of poverty in a nation or community spread from its people’s purchasing power to their access to education and to their health, as well as to the physical and social environment they currently live in. As noted by the United Nation in Cameroon Annual Report, 37% of the population of Cameroon live below the poverty line (below US$1 a day).

There are a suitable number of studies in Cameroon on poverty state and education. Tegoum and Hevi’s study, in 2016 revealed that 73% of children less than 5 years of age lived with several dimensions of poverty whereby 25 % of them suffer extreme poverty and 61 % of Cameroonian families are poor. Consequently, they will not be able to attend formal education. Sachs (2015) states that, more than 25% Cameroonian population suffer from extreme poverty in 2017 and the main determinants of children poverty are; the age and the level of education of the child’s mother or guardian, the poverty status of the family and the absence of the mother in the family. The focus of this project is to fight poverty by encouraging education in Cameroon through recycling used goods. Paras & Pal (2018) study on the reuse of clothes and the number of times these clothes can be reused, and handled by textile companies. And it revealed that in developed countries with textile companies, the reuse is up to 9 times. Countries are encouraged to invest on textile companies because of the increasing rates of cotton dresses. In Cameroon with few textile companies, this project is effective for the collection and recycling of these used cotton clothes. But as a developing country the reuse of dresses will be less as compared to developed nations. Poverty is found to be more prevalent in rural areas in households whose heads are illiterate and in households whose heads work in the informal sector (Ndeffo, et al 2014) . Sustainability begins with education.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, 2014) report on sustainable development goals reveals, “Education is not only an end but also a means to achieving a broad global development agenda”. This project provides a concise, proof-based impression of the many ways in which education can proceed the suggested 2015 sustainable development goals. Some of the benefits of education that can promote sustainability are: Education increases the income of farmers: In countries with low income, most of the population rely on agriculture and only educated farmers can interpret and react to current information effectively. For example, adopt soil conservation, better utilise fertilizers, erosion-control dealings, grow cash crops or even institute varieties of new seeds. Education is essential to avoid chronic poverty: Poverty is heritable in some families (Sachs, 2015). The more vulnerable stay poor for lengthy periods, sometimes all their lives, handing on their poverty to their descendants. “Education is a key way of reducing chronic poverty”. Education will lead parents to use proper health and hygiene habits. When children of age 1, suffer of malnutrition and are likely to be permanent. Children whose mothers completed lower secondary education were less probable to be stunted contrasted with those whose mothers had no education, even after these women received education on healthier nutrition, such as breastfeeding practices, household wealth, mother’s height, water and sanitation.

Another benefit of education can be seen in a book published by Ndlovu (2012), Education and literacy programmes are to raise families and co-operators over-all academic level so that they can be more effective in the democratic processes electing their leaders and be accountable for and managing the co-operators. Also, the United Nation Annual Report in Cameroon (2016) states that Cameroon welcomes the biggest number of refugees (Hundreds of thousands mainly form the Central African Republic and Nigeria) Therefore, this project can be very helpful in alleviating poverty and promoting education before any intervention of the Government.

AIMS

This humanitarian project aims at promoting sustainability by collecting and retailing used/ unwanted or donated items. Fund raising is an important task for every non-profit making organisations and charity shops. Charity shops are very famous and are top players on the popular streets up and down the UK. Back then charity shops were solely managed by volunteers but now they have at least a paid manager or more to stay in the competition to obtain more donations and make profit; this competition is such that they now actively seek donations through bags in letterboxes. Every charity now concentrates on developing their retail shops to raise funds for their wide activities at such they implement different approaches of retail management such as, location, staffing, resourcing shops and presenting. Large charities are in an advanced level of competition and development; one good example is the Oxfam charity organisation. It was the first charity shop, always been the largest operator and leading developer among charity shops, (Parsons, 2002). As mentioned in the introduction charity shops are not well known and practiced in Africa and none is yet reference in Cameroon. The collective effort of individual citizens through donations will have more impact in solving the sustainability issue on education.

This project will run a charity store, run campaigns in most developed areas (Yaoundé, Douala), offices, share leaflets to seek unwanted/used goods (like dresses, shoes, electronics, machines, furniture etc.) and cash donations from concerned individuals and organisations. Popular shops and public service organisations will share free recyclables bags (see appendix) to clients after every purchase/service and a box (see appendix) for donations will be place at the counter/customer service for customer’s cash donations. Churches as well will receive these charity bags, for their members to be informed and participate in improving poor children lives with education. A collection services will collect the bags but for a start, only one store will operate in a high street urban area in Cameroon (Yaoundé). Money made from resale of these collected or donated goods will fund education for orphans/poor children of 2-18 years of age. Most studies on poverty in Cameroon regardless of whether they focused on the monetary or non-monetary approach revealed that people in the east, north and far north in Cameroon live more in poverty as compared to other regions in the nation (Heshmati, et al 2016). The success of this project can improve education and help reduce poverty in the East, North and Far north of Cameroon. The primary contribution of this project is creating a framework for demonstrating the ability of retail charity shops to support aid organisations pursue their activities in alleviating poverty and provide education in Cameroon while working alongside with aid organisations like United Nations, United Action for Children in Cameroon and the cotton industry in Cameroon (Sodecoton). Funds raised from the retail of donated goods will assist aid organisations promoting education thereby reducing their dependability on the Government and individual’s donations.

Rationale

Most studies have shown that even though government and corporations have as responsibilities to provide quality education for every citizen in the country, aid organisations have the most positive impacts (Burns, 2010). There are complex problems like poverty that cannot be address by only one organisation and can even be impossible to solve. Therefore, this charity shop project in Cameroon will have a high positive impact in distributing services centred on the needs of the receivers. It is an opportunity to recycle used items, protect the environment from waste goods (example cotton). Most times these goods are of less importance to the owners and likely to end in the soil. These goods whether broken or damaged will receive a new turn, sell other cotton dresses to the cotton industry, every individual can contribute (not only in cash but with their used goods) for the alleviation of poverty and promotion of education in the nation. The existence of a charity shop will not only reduce waste in soil but will also cause individuals to keep their unwanted items in a safe environment for donations, and other families not necessarily poor families can access quality goods at cheap prices. The World Bank and the United Nations are probably the largest resource funding; they have made investment in the early years of a child age a dominant economic issue by operating with partners to expand these investments in over 20 developing countries. An example is the Southern and Eastern Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence, financed by a $140 million International development aid credit (The World Bank annual report, 2017). Collaborating with this organisation can help raise funds to run multiple charity shops in Cameroon.

Aid organisations in Cameroon like Hope Foundation and United Action for Children cover various disciplines. Like education, human rights, child care, sanitation and water, women empowerment etc. partnering with one of them to run a charity shop will be another way to raise funds, staff to volunteer or low pay staff can easily be obtained from existing employees and even the management. Most importantly, Sachs (2015) noted that as the age of a child increases, the possible returns from the investment in human capital are lower. “Missing a year of investment in human capital when a child is two cannot be made up by that same investment when the child is six”. Returns from investment in the early years of brain development made are very high, in character training and early socialization, also in scholastic aptitude, nurturing cognition and in ensuring physical wellbeing; this early intervention unfortunately simply cannot replace by investments at a later age. This is another reason why an investment to raise a charity shop can be prioritised because funds raised in retailing will help sponsor more children education at an early age. As such, the results will last for the entire life of that child, for its peers to come and for the society enormously. The presentation of the charity stores, (its ventilation, well arranged and ironed clothes, stored in a cool and dry area, the newness of used furniture) as compared to clothes sold by other retail merchandise in Cameroon will attract more customers. Used dresses will not just be resold but will be reshaped to fit the season and fashion at affordable prices and damaged ones sold to cotton industries (like Sodecoton). An educative woman that work and earns her own income is aware from knowledge and experience from her peers that having few children will increase her saving to invest on her children and has more time to spend at work in other to earn more income.

Logistics

To carry on this project, the first thing to do is to identify a suitable location to run the store in a well-developed and busy street in Cameroon not far from where rich families reside, example the Capital city Yaoundé. This will increase the chance to get many and constant donations. Identify and collaborate with the right or best organisations, meet the cotton industry for an agreement to buy our unwanted cotton clothes. By approaching this aid organisation as Stakeholders for an extension to open retail stores to fund poor children education in Cameroon and the existing foundation (MTN foundation) to expand towards the creation of a retail store to raise funds and improve their activities in promoting education. The affiliation with these organisations is a source of funding for this project.

To make this project more effective, recyclable bags is put in all popular shops, banks and other service providers willing to volunteer. A Website and other social networks accounts is set for donations in support to the purpose activities. The money raised from donations and sales is use for the education of children in rural areas in Cameroon (North West Regions, East region). Omobowale (2017), states that international aid organisations like the MTN foundation stand a better chance of accessing funds than their local counterparts (United Action for Children). Because of their histories, research and intervention, administrative and budgetary transparency, and connections with parent and/or partner aid organisations in developed countries”. Therefore, funds are raise faster. Factors in this location likely to affect the development of the project is the failure to reach an agreement or collaborate with MTN foundation, United Action for children and even Sodecoton.

Locating in a popular area like Yaoundé means a competitive market place. In other to be successful, a charity shop must operate on the increasing commercial lines. In addition, volunteers in charity shops are often available just for a short-term because they are most times not paid, they easily move on when they find a job (Higham, 2012). Although Elderly people are mostly the volunteer, most times they volunteer for social support and contact conflicting with the shop profit-making objective. Again, Proffesionalism in a charity retail sector when it comes to managing volunteers and trading with customers in a professional but acting charitably (Parsons, 2004). Other Stakeholders in this project will include Volunteers, Donors, Employees, Beneficiaries (Customers), the cotton Industry and the local community. They are all involved in the development of the project. Social alliances for this project, the Government of Cameroon, the union for charity organisations, and other non- governmental institutions. Like the United Nations in Cameroon, enabled access to educational establishments for 53,174 refugee children, 23,790 from the Central African Republic, from Nigeria 14,384 and Cameroonians 15,000 (United Nations in Cameroon, 2016).

Cultural trends of this project: Every customer looks for equality before trusting a business. To gain their faithfulness, we need to act ethically and demonstrate equality consistently for them to perceive fairness. Because dissatisfied customers can express discontentment far and widely on social media. Cultural beliefs that affect sustainable development are cultural attitudes toward educational attainment, family size, and the role of women (Sachs, 2015).

The political trend: This could be the impact of taxes and interest rates imposed on individuals and other businesses causing customers with no or less money to spend in the market place. The Government is required to ensure economic opportunity for all by providing education facilities. Families that cannot afford education if not backed by the government is unable to acquire proper education, nutrition and the ability to develop skills to escape poverty (Sachs, 2015).

Economic trends: this include the unemployment rate in Cameroon, if high customers purchasing power will fall and if not, the reverse is right. The value of the goods donated, donors and customer’s confidence. In addition, policies that provide basic services and needs to the poor free child education/ care to the poor, so they can be skilful and have decent jobs.

The social trends: Engagement in social media so customers and donors can reach you, advertise goods. Speeding information flow and setting a lasting relationship. Culture identity is also a social trend when some people consider family or community members rather than individuals. However, many aid organisations are aware of trends. The most significant barriers for the effective development of this project will first include fundraising (many aid organisations apply for fundraising positions), employability of suitable staffs or volunteer with the best skills, shoplifting. However, staff can get extra training led by organisations on social media. If this project is successful, funds is raise faster. Fastening the funding of poor children education by the aid organisations (reducing illiteracy, birth rate, inequality, etc.). Sodecoton will have an important quantity of cotton for recycling and produce more cottons causing it to expand. Consequently, waste is reduced.

Sustainability Principles

Sustainable development goals are a possible historic decision, an influential method to move to a new global agenda that involve the world community, not only governments but also business, leaders of civil society, scientists, NGOs, and obviously, students everywhere. As an aid organisation, the Sustainable Development Goals stated in Sachs (2015) and how they apply to this project are as follows:

1. To end extreme poverty, including hunger: Ending extreme poverty in all its forms (hunger, stunting, malnutrition, and food security) by the year 2030, the World Bank needs to take specific objectives. In this project, provision of funds to poor families and orphans for education will reduce extreme poverty since guardians/parents in this situation extremely struggle to provide for their children education needs, these funds received will help increase their savings from income or profit made from any activity performed for survival. In other to free Cameroonians from hunger and poverty as an urgent matter, this project is an effective tool linking this first sustainable goal.
2. Ensure effective learning for all children and for youth for their lives and their livelihoods: It is an education goal, which emphasises that children should be empowered to develop the skills they need to be satisfied in future, productive and exemplary citizens. The world moves rapidly with innovations and modern technologies, to obtain a decent job, good education and decent skills are required. In this project, orphans/poor children are of age 2-18 will receive basic nursery education to help develop their brain and escape from delays or deficiencies which can take longer years to recover.
3. Achieve gender equality, social inclusion, and human rights for all: As the fourth Sustainable development goal, it rests on the core dimensions of fairness, social mobility, and social inclusion. Most developing countries still face discrimination among males and females. In many cultures, female education is a taboo, a wrong investment, etc. this is a barrier to life satisfaction and their full participation in economic life. This project aims at raising funds for every child education.
4. Improve agricultural systems and raise rural productivity: Raising funds for the education of children will be in all fields including in the agriculture sector. Agricultural studies children will receive will improve the farming system with sustainable food supply and sustainable seeds.
5. Empower inclusive, productive, and resilient cities: A city with reduce wastes in soil makes that city more productive and economical. Donors are empowered to donate and improve their social life. For a city to be accountable, developed, participatory, productive and have an effective city governance the residents need to be educated and informed.
6. Transform governance for sustainable development: The aid organisation should commit to good governance. Good governance for sustainable development comprise of Transparency, access to information, Accountability, Participation, efforts to avoid corruption, and end tax havens (for aid organisations, we have employee tax)

Closing

To conclude, if successfully and effectively carried out, sponsoring poor children till university will reduce poverty in families. Because they have potentials for future employability and their entrepreneurial skills are as well-developed. Thereby, investors are encouraged to invest in this nation. For my proposal to be successful and effective in impacting the communities and reaching the SDGs, the concept of good governance will perform a dominant role in the ultimate success or failure. The rules of behaviour specially in organisations is known as Governance. It includes our government and politics, major organisations that stand as important actors in sustainable development like aid organisations. Instead of a universal political instruction to dictate the implementations of the SDGs let’s see the following shared principles of governance for the sectors.

Accountability: Governments, business and organisations need to be accountable for the actions they display. For example, the Governments in both nondemocratic and democratic election (systems) are accountable to their citizens. Here the aid organisation is accountable to their stakeholders, donors, receivers, customers and the community. Accountability here is the idea that it is good for organisations to adopt goals and be in charge for following through on exactness the measures needed to report on them, to achieve those goals and to provide public assessments of the progress about those goals. The second feature is transparency: for citizens to hold any organisation and business accountable for their actions, they should know those actions and behaviours. This means powerful institutions should receive pressure to resist secrecy either in the form of tax havens around the world allowing people to hide their money and behaviour, because this behaviour will impact the global goal of ending poverty. In this case, the aid organisation has the responsibility of transparency to other stakeholders, donors, receivers, customers, staffs etc.

The third feature is participation: This is the ability of citizens and stakeholders to partake in decision making. Businesses need to engage their stakeholders not only shareholders through institutional means and well-defined processes. In this case, the staff, the consumers, stakeholders, etc. Their contributions in anyway should participate for the effective and success of the organisation goal.A fourth aspect of good governance is to do no harm; NGO should not be involved in any waste that can pollute the environment in anyway even if they are allowed by the law because it is everyone responsibility to do no harm. Lastly, good governance consists of a clear affirmative commitment to sustainable development. Good governance is as well the responsibility for a sense of universal participation and universal commitment in sustainable development. If these principles of accountability, transparency, participation, the do no harm principle are adopted the organisation will be a living success.