False teeth and grass cuttings: Unusual items handed into Black Country charity shops

Charities are inundated with donations from members of the public but sometimes they aren't always things that can be sold.

At PDSA in Wolverhampton, store manager Ed Blackwell said he recently received a 'for sale' sign that had to be thrown away and a bag of Hornby Trains that sold for £90 each.

He added: "We get lots of weird and wonderful objects donated to us and it is always a surprise when we open the bags.

"Around five-months-ago we had a 'for sale' sign given to us which we had to throw away along with a bag of grass cuttings and some false teeth.

"We recently received a bracelet and we were going to throw it out because it was all black but I took it to the jewellers on the off chance and it was valued at £350."

Mr Blackwell said the store in the Mander Centre receives lots of donations of wigs but added his favourite find was a set of Hornby Trains.

"Every now and then I arrive in the morning and I see them in bags and they fetch between £80 and £90 a time which is fantastic for the charity," he said.

"I would love to find out who donates them so that I can thank them."

At Katharine House Hospice in Stafford, generous donors gave away a caravan which fetched £450, a dovecote which sold for £250 and a piece of citrine stone jewellery which was valued at £500.

Spokesman Nigel Connor said the charity is extremely grateful because the money raised allows it to continue to care for people with terminal illnesses.

He added: "You will be amazed at the variety of unusual items you can find in our shops.

"We are extremely grateful to local people who donate their unwanted items for us to sell."

In the last year Beacon Centre for the Blind has been inundated with the popular romance novel '50 Shades of Grey.'

Fundraising manager Jenni Fryer said the charity, which has stores in Wolverhampton and Sedgley, has received more than 50 copies of the book by E.L James in the last six months.

A tarnished cornet with dents and scratches was donated to a British Heart Foundation shop in Staffordshire and was almost thrown out before an eagle-eyed volunteer realised it was a rare item made by Distin & Co, a celebrated 19th Century British brass instrument manufacturer.

Although it was damaged, the instrument still worked well and sold for £1,953.

Meanwhile a hand-carved mask, which has real human hair, was donated to the Stone BHF store.

A BHF spokesperson said: "The Nordic spirit mask was said to hold magical powers and used in magical practice but it is not known when it was made or by whom."

A herd of cows raised hundreds of pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support, while a Chinese jade monkey figurine, which had a reserve price of £180, sold for £23,000 at auction.

Spokesman Claire Monks said: "These were gifts left to us in wills and these kind of donations amount to more than a third of Macmillan's total income.

"We couldn't provide the support we do to people affected by cancer without them."