Oh yes, when Amy Winehouse was spotted dropping off a couple of binbags full of old clobber, she started a frenzy in her local charity shop. Apparently her designer cast-offs were worth more than £20,000 and caused a run on the shop that left harassed staff reeling.

So who leaves their vintage clothing where?  It’s said that Kate Middleton drops her tops at the Red Cross Shop in Chelsea, while the Bernardo’s shop in Alderley Edge is the beneficiary of Coleen Rooney’s casual wear discards and several charity shops in Westbourne Grove are the beneficiary of clothing given away by Sienna Miller and other A-list celebs.

What to look out for – tailored clothing items are the best bargains – T-shirts and other casual clothing can look old and saggy very quickly, while anything lined is likely to hold its shape (and value) for decades.

As Red Nose day approaches, lots of companies are working out how to support the fundraising event with workplace based activities and fun. But for one or two people, charity fundraising is more of a challenge than a bit of fun.

Take Alastair Humphreys, who at 24, started cycling for charity – he didn’t stop for four years! He travelled England to South Africa, then crossed the Atlantic by yacht and continued cycling from Argentina all the way to Alaska. He then crossed the Pacific by freighter (with his bike in the hold) and cycled back from Siberia to England. In total it was a 46,000 trip.

He wore no underwear (to save weight!) and made do with one long-sleeved cycling top and just two 2 T-shirts, plus loads of clothes in Siberia that he gave away when he left.

Clothing Thieves Charged

Two Lithuanian nationals have been charged in South Wales with the theft of 50,000 charity clothing bags that had been left out for doorstep connection. The bags were found on an industrial estate in Cardiff after an anonymous tip-off and police say that the thefts were clearly the work of an organised gang.

There were enough bags to completely fill six shipping containers and they appear to have been within days of being shipped to an eastern European country and sold. A spokesman for the police said that the public may have been targeted with fake collecting bags to obtain such a huge haul of popular clothing and that people should, ‘keep giving vital help to charities, but give with care and check your donation is going to those in need.’

Bieber and Osbourne donate clothing for charity

British fans of the teen idol Justin Bieber have been bidding on the space suit he wore in a Super Bowl advert that s being auctioned in the USA. The suit, alongside one worn by rock legend Ozzy Osbourne in the same ad, is expected to raise more than £2,500 while the Osbourne garment is currently being bid for at just £1,500.  The garments are being auctioned on eBay.com to raise funds for the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, USA.

Bidding ends at midnight today, USA time, and when Sharon Osbourne revealed them on her American show The Talk in February she claimed that they ‘…cost $30,000 each. Justin was sweating all day, so [his is] covered in his sweat.’