Charity Shops opening up after Covid-19 Lockdown

My clients at Tidy Coaching have been asking me when charity shops are opening up again and wondering if they are going to be taking donations when they do.

Many people have used their time at home during the Covid-19 Lockdown to have a good clear out and declutter so I thought it would be interesting to see how Charity Shops are coping with the influx of donations following lockdown, and the new challenges they face in the current Covid-19 climate. 

 I spoke to Cate James, the Manager at Mary’s Living and Giving shop for Save the Children in Chiswick where I volunteered a few years ago.

The Chiswick shop opened its doors to customers again on the 22nd July along with the Teddington, Kew and Richmond shops. Another 6 Mary’s Living and Giving shops across the UK are due to open again shortly.

Taking Donations

The Chiswick shop did indeed receive more donations than usual following lockdown, but they continue to welcome donations as usual. Cate has streamlined the donations process to ensure it doesn’t become overwhelming. “A lot of people are ‘phoning before bringing in donations, this has been really helpful”. 

Cate has made the decision to put menswear on hold for the time being and to concentrate only on receiving and selling womenswear. “Womenswear is the best seller and we want to make as much as we can for Save the Children at this time. Lockdown has been extremely tough for the charity”.

Cate is welcoming donations of all womenswear, women’s footwear, women’s accessories and some household items. (If you are donating, it is always helpful to wash items of clothing before bringing them in). 

 When donations are brought into the shop, they are quarantined for three days in the fitting room which is currently out of use for trying on clothes. (The WHO guidance states that no Coronavirus could survive outside the body for longer than three days at room temperature). Each bag is marked with a ‘don’t open until’ date so that the volunteer staff know which is safe to open. Once the bags are out of quarantine they are taken down to the stockroom and sorted as usual by the volunteers. 

 Anything ‘out of season’ is stored in the stockroom and nothing is wasted –if an item is not suitable for the Chiswick shop, it is passed on to other Save The Children shops or recycled. 

 As the fitting rooms are out of use, customers are welcome to return an item (with a receipt and tags attached) for a full refund within 14 days if they find it doesn’t fit. It will then go back into quarantine. 

Visiting the Shop

Two weeks before opening, Cate was already beginning preparations for welcoming her customers and volunteers back through the door. This included Covid-19 WHO health and safety and well-being training and a re-induction for the volunteers as well as deep cleaning and re-decorating the shop. “My first priority is making sure my volunteers feel comfortable and safe working here again as well as giving customers the confidence and reassurance to shop”.

“We can fit two customers at a time into the shop in order to adhere to social distancing measures and on entering the shop, customers are asked to sanitize their hands which then gives them the freedom to browse the rails as normal”. All customers must wear masks now (as in all shops) and the volunteers at the till are behind Perspex.

Covid-19 has put a temporary halt to the amazing events that Cate had planned for the Mary’s Living and Giving  Shop, Chiswick such as a joint fashion show with Jigsaw (a few doors down from the shop) and an afternoon tea party for customers in the shop’s garden.

“There is a lovely feeling of community team work amongst the businesses on Chiswick High Road and we’re looking forward to hosting these events when it’s safe to do so”. 

Although the shopping routine is not 100% back to normal anywhere in the UK, Cate is doing her very best at the Mary’s Living and Giving Shop to build consumer confidence and welcome customers back to the shop. 

 As well as donations from the public, Cate is thrilled to also be selling new products such as hand-made soaps, candles, wrapping paper and eco-friendly coffee cups. High end labels and designers as well as high street and online brands often donate new end-of-line items.

It is certainly reassuring for anyone wanting to donate items (and professional organisers such as myself) to know that we can safely and confidently bring donations to Charity shops such as Mary’s Living and Giving.

Opening hours for Mary’s Living and Giving Shop Chiswick are:

Wednesday to Saturday: 11am – 5pm

Sunday: 12 noon – 4pm

Please pop in and have a browse.