A CHARITY says its North-East shops are losing more than £250,000 a year because customers do not understand the Gift Aid scheme.

Barnardo's is launching the Missing Millions campaign in a bid to claim money lost each year through the poor take up of Gift Aid.

The charity has calculated that its shops in County Durham are losing £72,000 a year while those in Teesside are missing out on £51,000.

Gift Aid is a tax back sum paid directly to the charity and comes from customers signing up for the scheme at no cost to themselves.

This year, Barnardo’s in the North-East had an estimated income of £417,187 from the Retail Gift Aid scheme.

However, if every person who donated clothes, accessories or goods to their local Barnardo’s store signed up for Gift Aid, the charity could make £684,389 in Gift Aid each year, it has been calculated.

Steve Oversby, director of Barnardo’s North East ,said: “It’s a terrible waste that we could gain an extra £267,000 to spend on children’s services simply through Gift Aid. That’s £267,000, of tax back money.

“The Missing Millions Appeal is about making every penny of each donation count. It’s so simple to sign up and it takes literally a minute.

"Basically it’s just two easy steps - you don’t have to worry about giving away any personal information like salary or tax brackets and it won’t cost you a penny. But it could make a huge difference to the lives of the most vulnerable children.”

The charity said any UK taxpayer could take part in the scheme by filling out a Gift Aid declaration available in stores.