It could be the name of a campaign for fair prices for the use of Freepost envelopes. That the charity Through the Roof has started such a campaign is, however, co-incidental. The charity's aim is to ensure that the good news of the Christian message is accessible to people with disabilities.

To spread the gospel the charity does use Freepost envelopes. Not that many of them - last month Through the Roof had received only 17 Freepost envelopes. However, the charity has been charged more than once for eight of the freepost envelopes. For one item Through the Roof was charged a postage no less than six times.

No apologies

The reason for the repeat charges appears to be that some items go through Royal Mail's sorting machines more than once. Royal Mail made no apologies but did confirm to Third Sector, which reported the story, that it will refund any such overpayments.

Checking if charges for Freepost envelopes are correct and applying for refunds when they're not is time-consuming and likely to be a problem for many charities. For Through the Roof it's a point of principle: When I'm being charged six times to receive one donation, it's excessive, the charity's operation manager said.

Links

• Repeat Freepost charges 'could be costing charities millions' (thirdsector.co.uk)