Clothing collection theft and bogus charity collections will be the focus of the first Clothing Collections Symposium, coming up next month.

Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd (pictured) will make the keynote speech at the event, which follows a high level of political interest in the issue and reports of significantly increased public complaints about bogus collections earlier in the year.

The Fundraising Standards Board and Institute of Fundraising joined together to produce the symposium which will address how to reduce charity collection bag theft, how charities can help supporters identify bogus collections and how they can implement the Institute’s revised code on house-to-house collections best practice.

FRSB chief executive Alistair McLean said the public was worried about bogus collections and that complaints about such had doubled over the past year.

“And when supporters are worried, fundraisers are even more worried,” he said. “The impact of a loss of confidence in such an important fundraising method is significant and we need to do everything we can to re-establish trust.”