An ode to…Charity Shops

Philanthropic shopping in Highbury and Islington. Photo Credit: Aoife Yourell

I love charity shops. I could happily spend a Saturday afternoon rummaging through rails of cast-offs, boxes of records and shelves of dog-earred books. Now before I start waxing lyrical on the joys of charity shops, I want to get one thing clear: I do not consider shopping a leisure activity. The thought of spending the day pacing up and down the high street ducking in and out of a string of generic department stores gives me the willies. Oxford Street I avoid like the plague. The last time I had to brave the centre was before Christmas and it was just as nightmarish as I had envisaged it.  Shops crammed with people, snapping up everything around them in a frenzied consumer orgy. World.Gone.Mad.

But, I do make some special exceptions, and charity shops are amongst them. They are wallet-friendly recycling havens in a world of disposable fashion and seasonal trends. There is something intensely rewarding about finding treasures within them. It’s the sense of having worked at it, deserving your find because you’ve put effort and time into looking for it. Well, at least, that’s how I feel about it. I also like the individuality it fosters – it encourages a deviation from the high street uniform. And remember in these shops, consumerism equates to philanthropy!

My own local Marie Curie Cancer Care, beside Highbury and Islington tube station, is a gem. In the name of good journalism I paid it a visit, had a wee browse and did a bit of shopping. Sometimes charity shops can be quite poky and cramped and this can be a deterrent to spending more than five minutes in a place, but not so at Marie Curie. It stocks men, women and children’s clothing as well as accessories, books, household goods, records and toys and there are two changing rooms as well. In the course of my, ahem, research, I picked up a pink woollen sweater in perfect nick and a mint-condition Peter Gabriel record. All for a mere £6 – not bad, eh?

Have a look on the Marie Curie website to locate a store near you. Oxfam and Cancer Research UK also have shops dotted all over the city. If it’s labels you’re after then head to one of the shops in Chelsea, Kensington or Notting Hill, where you are guaranteed to come across some designer pieces. Happy hunting!