“It is shocking that people in this day and age are that desperate that they have to resort to this. We are now in times where some people just can not survive financially at all.”
A pair have been caught on camera raiding a charity clothes bank before leaving the scene.
In the footage, two men approach the Salvation Army clothes recycling bins on St Ninian’s Place at the high rise flats in Seaton, Aberdeen on April 10.
A video shared on social media, that appears to be filmed from one of the high rise flats, shows a man inside of the bin while another man stands at the lid. The person inside then throws bags of clothes out.
Wearing a beige hoodie, the man inside the bin is then seen climbing out. The pair then fill their backpacks with what appears to be contents of the charity bin, before they make off on an electric scooter and bike towards nearby sports pitches.
The incident was captured as the cost of living crisis continues to crush families across Scotland.
Energy, council tax and water bills are all increasing by more than inflation with steep hikes coming into force this month.
Dozens of locals were taken aback by the shocking clip. Nicola Mackenzie Campbell said: “Not one of us knows their story and lives their lives. Do happy well adjusted, well raised people do this? No, where is the compassion for the bigger picture?”
Rach Thornton wrote: “I don’t know these people, I don’t know their story. What I do know through my job is how much people are struggling, god how much I struggle more than I did before. Price of shopping, price of petrol, electric, gas absolutely everything is going up and up and up. Except our wages.
“So I’m not going to make any judgement here of whether they are at it or whether this is the difference between someone having food in their belly or not.”
While Carol Hunter added: “I think this is shocking that people in this day and age are that desperate that they have to resort to this. We are now in times where some people just can not survive financially at all.”
The Salvation Army run around 8,000 clothing banks, located all over the UK. Everything donated is re-sold, reused or recycled, helping the charity lessen their impact on the environment while raising money to support projects throughout the UK.
Clothing donations Salvation Army receives through clothing banks end up on the shelves of their charity shops. Items sold here in the UK make the best profit for the charity, enabling the charity to to help more people.
But any clothing they are not able to sell in shops across the UK is sold for reuse overseas, as there is great need for pre-owned clothing in countries less affluent than the UK.
The footage comes aftetr we reported Scotland’s poorest families had £17m of debt deductions made from their Universal Credit payments in one month.
Figures from November show 250,000 Universal Credit households north of the border had one or more deductions – 50% of all homes in receipt of the benefit.
It worked out at an average monthly deduction of £67 for hard pressed Scots and totalled £17m in one month.
Claw backs can relate to debt owed to energy companies, landlords, the DWP and HMRC. Some of the deductions also relate to claimants paying back a UC advance after waiting 5 weeks for the benefit.
In response to a potential theft from a Salvation Army donation bank in the Aberdeen area, a spokesperson for The Salvation Army Trading Company said: “We are very saddened when clothes that are kindly donated to our clothing bank are stolen.
“Protecting our clothing banks is a priority and we monitor and visit our clothing banks on a regular, often daily, basis.
“Bank theft is an issue that we deal with as part of our operations and we report incidents to the Police. We replace damaged locks immediately and we are grateful to the Police and members of the public for supporting us.
“We hope people will continue to donate to our clothing banks as the money raised is used to help vulnerable people, providing essentials like hot meals for rough sleepers and food parcels for struggling families.
“We would ask if anyone has information about thefts from our clothing banks to contact their local Police.”
Police Scotland said the incident had not been reported.