Schweet Charity
Really? I don't think so. Things have moved on in the last few years and far from killing the High Street they may be the ultimate saviour. I have always been a charity shop forager, it has often paid off or at the very least been an interesting way to waste time. Recently charitable institutions with retail operations have wised up and started curating and pricing their "good" stuff more commercially. This has led the "uncharitable" among us to say that they are now too expensive etc. Hold on... the idea of these outlets was always to raise as much money as possible for their particular cause, not to represent ridiculous value to those of us who have a better idea of the value of a given good, who may then eBay or boot sale their cheaply gotten gains.
I love the serendipity of the experience, unlike every other flipping big chain shop on the high street, you never know what you might find, or what your life has been missing. Maybe for a teenager TopShop would do the same thing but for the vast majority of us, shopping has become a process of rifling through this season's offerings.
Support your local charity shops, without them you would be looking at a window covered in rave leaflets and circus posters. It gives the older people of the community somewhere to go and pick up awful china and odd balls of wool and people like me the opportunity to browse records, books and these days, designer clobber. Half of what I am wearing right now came from this rich source and - no boast - I am often complimented on how well dressed I appear.
Let the high street be full of these kinds of shops, you might even re-instill the joy of browsing to buy not forgetting that your money is going to do some good to real people in real need, not corporations.
I bought my Schwinn Sting-Ray Micro Scooter from a local charity shop for £5, a bit like my first acquisition (see my earlier post: Secret Scooter), it gave so much - for so little, to someone in real need (me) as well as donating to a cause.
Oh and forget about selling stuff you no longer need on eBay or car boots, they are not generally worth the hassle, donate to your local charity shops, it's easier and you will feel like you are taking part in something.
www.blf.org.uk
www.macmillan.org.uk
www.pulmonaryfibrosistrust.org
www.scannappeal.org.uk
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