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My two-week effective managership of the charity shop is in full swing. I’ve suddenly become very interested in figures, targets, profit and gift aid donor sign ups! It’s been really satisfying being able to really get my teeth into running the shop independently and getting on with the nitty-gritty of processing stock effectively, recruiting new volunteers and seeing how much money we are making to help fund research, nurses and community care for people who have had strokes or heart attacks in Scotland.

Before I started working at Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland I went unthinking to donate clothes to charity shops. No, that isn’t quite true. I thought very hard about giving any of my clothes away because they come under two categories in my wardrobe; everyday essentials (and therefore indispensible) and nostalgic/beautiful pieces of my personal history (and therefore indispensible).

 As I was so loath to part with any of my clothes the ones that tended to end up in a bin-bag marked ‘Salvos’ were totally worn out, or stained, or had been butchered in an attempt to alter them (even after an A-level in Textiles my fine needle work needs some attention!).



I understand, then, when I come across whole bin bags full of dead beat clothes. I’m grateful that someone has at least thought of donating to charity rather than taking a trip to the landfill with their unwanted garments. Charity shops can still raise money from worn-out clothes through recycling them so I don’t have to look back and feel too guilty about my own dodgy donating history.

But oh the joy of looking through a bag of clothes and not having to throw any into the awaiting recycling pen. To hold up every single item, which has been cleaned before being brought to us, and saying ‘wwoowww!’. To realise that there are three more bin bags from the same donor and in each one are hardly-worn, colourful, garments from decent shops is an absolute dream.

On Thursday I spent about an hour silently giving thanks to the woman who had donated items such as a hardly-worn pair of Emu boots, a Jasper Conran tunic, An 100% wool Laura Ashley dress, a pair of silver and duck-egg blue suede Toast sandals, a phase eight velvet evening gown and two DKNY purses in immaculate condition with their original dust bags!

So, when you’re next planning on having a clear out be sure to give your old, worn-out clothes to the charity shop rather than putting them in the bin but go that extra mile and challenge yourself to give that dress in the wardrobe that you bought for a wedding but have only worn once and will never again, the shoes sitting at the bottom of the cupboard that you liked five years ago but just aren’t your style anymore and those hundreds of scarves, handbags, belts and purses lying in a heap under your bed that haven’t seen the light of day for a year.

Give generously and know that you are making the days of assistant managers the country over who are acting as managers and need a bit of a pick-me-up!