Sorry guys, I just want to address this. It's come up a few times on my feed and I have commented on it and my friend posted it as well.

This guy was working in 10 of us in Newport and he's... I think he's been sentenced over it. The reason this has happened is because the charity shops are taking on volunteers from probation.

So this guy hasn't got to that stage in life, right? And just suddenly became a stalker and fixated on people, right? He's obviously got previous for doing this.

And probation turned up to us about three years ago and said, oh, by law you have to take on offenders, blah blah blah. I said, let me tell you something now. We're not taking on any offenders.

We work with mothers and children and babies. So your offenders can go up the road. Because I said, can you tell me what their offences are for their full criminal history? And they were like, oh, no, we can't do that under data protection.

So under data protection, then I ain't having them because I can't take a risk of them being around vulnerable women, vulnerable children, my vulnerable adults who are volunteers.

You know, they should. And the other thing is, right, I had a lady come to me who'd worked for a shop in Bargad. Ten years she'd been there. She had learning difficulties, but she was a good worker. Like she was a good worker.

You know, a lot of lifting and carrying the bags in from the car. She worked her backside off. There was a probation volunteer there. It's actually a song to do.

They said, oh, well, there's nothing we can do because it's our word against yours. His word against yours. No CCTV app. This is this is why I started putting CCTV app.

One thing I can't stand is sleazy men. I tell him now, right, sleazy men or any of them like this. I can't stand them. When they come in, I had one in here the other week and he was making rude comments and I was like, get out.

You know. I can't stand them when they're like that. I had one this morning. He was a bit too close for personal comfort. And I just went and pushed him away. He said, oh, sorry. I said, yeah, a bit closer. Pushed him away from me. I thought, no, get lost, mate. I don't care. I couldn't care less, you know.

But these charity shops, actual registered charity shops, big names. This was from ten of us, right, are taking on volunteers from probation. But they're not divulging that information to the public. And half of them haven't got CCTV to protect anybody.

And I think that's wrong. I think that's wrong.

So for you to be away when you walk into these charity shops, half of them could be on probation. They could be. They might not be. Some of them might never offend again. But clearly some of them do.

I had an issue when I went into one in Riska. This was before we even started the baby bank. And I was in there shopping. And I used to like to go round, have a rummage. And I'd be walking around just minding my own business, listening to what was going on. You know, thinking, how can I start something and help people? And still then it was just a pipe dream, you know. Still is a rummage. Pipe dream is still in there a week.

Five years down the line and I'm exhausted with all of this donation work. Exhausted just sorting clothes. And donations. Donation fatigue.

And I was going round and I was looking at bags. And I was picking them up. And I was going through my bag era, picking them up. And I picked up a long bag. And I thought, God, that's long. Who's going to have that? I could put your French stick in there. Like, you know, it was one of them type of bags.

So I was minding my own business. And a fella that was working there that was on the till made a beeline for me. Right? Came over to the bag and said, Oh, you could keep your—referring to an adult sex toy—in there. Couldn't you, madam?

And I poked him away with the bag. I was like, get lost, you minger. Because I don't care. I'll just say it out as a, you know, I will say it. And I reported that to head office. And then it was a little bit after that, I found out that they were taking on probation.

So I have made this post before. And I have said to people, you need to be careful when you're in charity shops or anywhere, any voluntary organisations, they could be taking on probation. Because probation are using the Equality Act to say, Oh, no, you have to give them a… but I've said no chance.

Because we're the food bank and a baby bank, we're more likely to have children on the at-risk register come in and ask for help. I'm more likely to have a vulnerable adult come in because we're a safe space. Right? And because we do find a lot of people with learning difficulties gravitate towards us.

I think it's because we're more accepting, you know, than other places. You know, I've had a member of staff that was visually impaired and they were doing this in front of her eyes in another charity shop to see how visually impaired she was. You know, but we've had people with learning difficulties in because I think it's because we're laid back and we just accept people as they are.

But I have a duty of care to protect you, my mothers and the children that come in here. And I have a duty of care to protect you all. And I have a duty of care to protect my volunteers as far as I'm concerned and myself. I don't want to be working with one of these mingers myself. I don't like sleaze. I don't like smut and I don't like sleaze. And we've had a few of them in.

And we've just… look at the guy. What was his name? Mr. Andrews. Remember he was in and he was buying kids bathing costumes all the time and being a weirdo. Check him out. Put him on Facebook. Weirdo. Don't want him in here.

You know, one of the girls came to me and she said, Jane, I don't like this guy. I said, I'm not fussing with him. He's getting on my bloody nerves. And she said, yeah, but he's going through the kids... every time he comes in, he's picking up the kids' box of bathing costumes and he's going through them and he's being weird and I don't like it. And they say every time, it's not a one-off.

And then we threw him out then. He came in. He barged past Chloe. He nearly knocked her over. Right? She was folding the baby clothes by the… you know, there was a huge pile of baby clothes in Pontypool and he barged past her and he nearly knocked her over. So that is an issue in itself, isn't it? To make a beeline to go downstairs into the other side of the shop that was shut on a Sunday to get to these bathing costumes again.

And we were like, you're out, mate. And we frog-marched him out of the shop. And he tried to come in again and I had to block the doorway with my body. You know, because I will. I mean, I'm not asking volunteers to do that. But I want to have him in there and then the police. Then we forwarded it all as CCTV to the police.

But I want to make it perfectly aware, right? Because this guy went out of his way to stalk this person who worked in the shop. Right? I want you to be perfectly aware that when you go into any voluntary organisation other than mine, you will have people who are on probation for whatever they've done. Theft, damage, criminal damage, murder, sex offenders, being a paedophile. In these voluntary organisations.

Because they are all taking on people from probation. But I have put my foot down. I put it down when we were down Big Riska. She came down Big Riska to see me and I was like, no chance. No chance. And don't even think about trying to take me to court over it, I said. Because I will win. Because I know exactly what to say in a court. I should have been a blooming lawyer, right? I should have been a barrister.

I said I know exactly what to say. The law is black and white. And I have to put vulnerable people first. And I cannot have sex offenders, people on probation, people with violent tendencies around children.

So I just want you to be aware if you go into these charity shops, ask them. Ask the managers and say have you got anybody out working here on probation? They won't be able to tell you what for. Nine times out of ten, they won't know what for. Head office won't know what for. Because they're not allowed to give them that information.

It's only if that volunteer divulges the information. Because under the Data Protection Act, they're not allowed to divulge that information to anybody. So you could be a rape victim and you could be out in a shop. And you could be volunteering, helping other women in a different shop, under a different charity name. Thinking you're perfectly safe and they could have people from probation there that's raped women. And children. And men. You know, people rape men as well.

But I want you to be 100% solid that I have said. And if I have got anybody in my shop that behaves like that towards anybody, I'll go nuts. I will go absolutely nuts on them. Because I won't put up with it.

You know, like I said, the shop suggests a way of us fundraising to keep us going and doing things. And sorting all this stuff, you know, because we couldn't see it before because we had so much stuff. When somebody comes in you, nine times out of ten, they're not just a shopper. They're you because they need some sort of direction and some help. And we're you, gauging why they need help. We haven't got time to deal with people like this. And we haven't got time to be putting people at risk with people like that.

And it's time that the charity shops put down their foot and said, No, I've got elderly volunteers. I've got vulnerable volunteers in here. People who've got learning difficulties. People who are registered disabled that can't physically sometimes get away from these weirdos if they get cornered. And they need to say, No, back off. We're not having these people here.

You know, but nobody's taking accountability for it, are they? I mean, he was prolific. He's been sent back to prison this one half. He could have murdered that worker in the shop.

Yes, that's worst case scenario, but you have to think like that sometimes, don't you? But I want you to be aware that when you go into these large retail charity shops and any other voluntary organisation...