Opinion: Why I’m a big fan of Stratford’s charity shops

A Stratford View

By Becky Holmes

I WANT to talk charity shops.

I was in a café last week and a group of three young women at the table next to me were talking about the number of charity shops they’d seen whilst walking around Stratford. I was casually listening in whilst pretending to be on my phone because I am unashamedly nosy, but my interest was piqued when one said: “I read ages ago that you only get charity shops in really poor areas. I didn’t realise it was like that here.”

Given that some of the most affluent areas of the country now have charity shops on their high streets I find this a rather old-fashioned view. I’ve seen many a celebrity talking about finding a bargain on the charity shop rails, and only a few months ago Elle magazine did a feature about the best secondhand shopping spots.

Of course, things aren’t perfect. We all know that. One issue that regularly comes up around charity shops is that they have hiked up their prices in recent years and of course this can mean that some of them become unaffordable to the people they were originally designed to appeal to. However, this isn’t usually because of greed, as many would have you believe, but rather more mundane factors such as increasing shop rents and eye- watering energy prices.

Regardless of some of the challenges I am a big fan of Stratford’s charity shops and (most) of the people who work in them. I can rarely resist nipping into a few whenever I’m in town. I buy nearly all my fiction books from the Blue Cross shop then donate them back when I’ve read them. T

his does mean that I occasionally buy one that I think looks good only to get home, start it and realise I’ve only just read it and it’s probably the copy I donated.

A friend of mine is a huge fan of the Shakespeare Hospice bookshop and regularly messages me with photos of obscure titles that he’s picked up from there, recent gems being Lessons from Urban Combat, Men Against Tanks and The Battle for Budapest. His literary interests are alarmingly narrow. Last week he also sent me a photo of a chair they have in there for customers (not for sale I might add) and said he wanted that too, so I wonder if perhaps he just wants to move in.

My love of charity shops doesn’t start and finish at books though. I have bought some awesome clothes from the places in town as well, including a Boden summer dress from the Dogs Trust shop for £15 and a Mint Velvet jumper from the Myton Hospice shop for £12. Admittedly I bought the latter to diet into, put half a stone on and ended up giving it to a much slimmer friend, but it was still a massive bargain.

And it’s not just Stratford town centre where you can pick up a bargain. Alcester has tons of small charity shops, as does Henley, Shipston and Southam to name but a few. And if you’re happy to go further afield then trust me, you won’t regret a rummage through some of the charity shops in the Cotswolds. Talk about posh.

I think it’s time for those people who view charity shops as the sign of a dying high street to update their mindset. Charity shops are hugely important in a time when millions of tons of clothes end up in landfill every year. As well as offering more affordable goods than many high street shops they also bring volunteering and socialising opportunities within their communities and of course they support causes that provide vital services for people, animals and the environment.

So, I’d like to finish with a plea. Bag up the clothes you never wear, box up your old books and gather your knick-knacks. Drop them off at the shop that supports your cause of choice and pick up a bargain while you’re in there.