Europe's largest 'lost and found' warehouse

ESL Lessons: True Stories

A printable worksheet for story-based English conversation classes.

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: Europe's largest 'lost and found' warehouse
YouTube: Europe's largest 'lost and found' warehouse

Warm-up

Do you know what a 'lost and found' office is? (Yes, it's...)

Vocabulary Match

property -   - big storehouse
logged -   - recorded
bollard -   - traffic post
donated -   - public sales
claimed -   - possession
warehouse -   - given away
auctions -   - collected

True Story

Listen and fill in the blanks with words from above.

The Transport for London's (TfL) lost ________ office in West Ham, east London, is the biggest lost property ________ in Europe. It is filled with about 200,000 items every year, from stuffed toys to expensive watches. Every day, up to 1,100 new things are sorted and ________ into a system called NotLost.

Diana Quaye, the manager of the office, said, "There's a real surprise factor. Every day is different." She shares that they once even received a ________ from the Tube. Besides ordinary items, the staff also find expensive things like Rolex watches and bags of cash. However, many of these items are never ________ because their owners think they won't be found.

If items are not claimed within three months, they become the property of TfL. These items are then ________ to charity, recycled, thrown away, or sold in public ________. The money from the auctions is used to run the lost property service. Quaye said, "Every time my staff log something, they keep the idea in their heads that somebody will try and claim it." She believes that every lost item is important to someone.

Quiz

  1. What is the name of the system where new items are logged?
  2. What happens to the items if they are not claimed within three months?
  3. What is the money from the auctions used for?

True or False

  1. The lost property office receives up to 1,100 new items every day.  T  |  F
  2. Many expensive items, like watches, are never claimed.  T  |  F
  3. Diana Quaye said she keeps bags of cash for herself.  T  |  F

Conversation

A: What did we get today, Linda?
B: Well, here's a prosthetic leg!
A: How can someone forget their leg!?
B: Beats me! And here's a box of cooked frogs.
A: Seriously? Oh, over there. That looks important.
B: You're right. Someone lost their wedding dress!

Discussion

  1. Have you ever lost or found something valuable?
  2. Would you like to work in a lost and found office?
  3. What things would you hate to lose?

True Story Answers

The Transport for London's (TfL) lost property office in West Ham, east London, is the biggest lost property warehouse in Europe. It is filled with about 200,000 items every year, from stuffed toys to expensive watches. Every day, up to 1,100 new things are sorted and logged into a system called NotLost.

Diana Quaye, the manager of the office, said, "There's a real surprise factor. Every day is different." She shares that they once even received a bollard from the Tube. Besides ordinary items, the staff also find expensive things like Rolex watches and bags of cash. However, many of these items are never claimed because their owners think they won't be found.

If items are not claimed within three months, they become the property of TfL. These items are then donated to charity, recycled, thrown away, or sold in public auctions. The money from the auctions is used to run the lost property service. Quaye said, "Every time my staff log something, they keep the idea in their heads that somebody will try and claim it." She believes that every lost item is important to someone.

Vocabulary Answers

warehouse → big storehouse
logged → recorded
bollard → traffic post
auctions → public sales
property → possession
donated → given away
claimed → collected

Quiz Answers

  1. The name of the system where new items are logged is NotLost.
  2. They become the property of TfL and are donated to charity, recycled, thrown away, or sold in public auctions.
  3. The money from the auctions is used to run the lost property service.

True or False Answers

  1. True
  2. True
  3. False

Further Reading

https://news.sky.com/story/excuse-me-you-forgot-your-bollard-the-weirdest-things-left-on-public-transport-13033474

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