Blog 38! 'Education charity shop'!

With Christmas time approaching many retail shops are setting themselves up for one of their busiest times of the year. For many students the thought of charity shops has never been at the forefront of their mind. I decided to investigate the world of charity by visiting two of Nottingham's stores.

The charity shop Mind, on Mansfield Road, Sherwood, is a charity that works with people with mental health problems affecting 1 in 3 people within the UK. They don't just work with the patience themselves, they support family's and give meaningful work to people who would not be able to get paid work for various reasons. This very important charity focuses on an issue that is close to many peoples lives. Assistant manager of the Mansfield store Jackie Chapman spoke to me about the importance of the shop and donations for the charity at christmas time. 

She explained that "It's particularly important at christmas time to support charity shops, because like most stores that's when we get most of our income. When you go into a charity shop to spend money or to make a donation you are automatically supporting people who are less fortunate than yourself." The support you give to mind over this christmas period will help them continue to support patience and their families suffering with mental illness. 

Mind takes a wide range of donations: Small electrical goods, children's clothes, toys and ladies and gents wear, books, DVD's, CD's. This creates a diverse range of products to sell to customers giving a wide variety compared to high street stores. Within the shop nothing is wasted, "If we find an item of clothing that is not suitable for sale we have a rag man who pays us so much per weight of bag. We have a similar system for books via world books, who pay us per box. We are the ultimate recycler, everything is used." The effort put in by the volunteers is a major part of the shops success and without their support the shop would not be able to sort out the best donations. 

You may now be convinced that shops like Mind are vital in the community but why should you shop charity instead of high street? After speaking to Jackie it was evident why charity is often a good decision "You get a wide range of clothes and fashions, if you go to a high street shop you will find the same t-shirt in lots of different sizes. What we do is a size 10 or 12 and you get a different range and lots of different era's. I think this makes the shop more interesting." 

Jackie's message to students was clear "Buy from a charity shop because you'll get a bargain"

Oxfam have a similar message "You should shop charity because you can get all kinds of interesting things that are no longer available in high street stores and for a bargain price. At the same time you will be helping a good cause." This was a tip to students from Patrick Wright the manager of Oxfam Charity shop in Mansfield Road, Sherwood. This shop's mission is to "raise as much money as possible so that it can help people in poverty and suffering around the world." 

The world of charity is something that is rarely published and it's important to acknowledge the work that goes into supporting good causes. But they can't do it alone they rely on people like us to help them out in whatever way we can. There are so many way you can get involved and anything you can do is highly appreciated. With christmas approaching why not head down to your local store and have a look at some of the bargains you could pick up. You could also donate something that you no longer need which could be put to better use by the charities.