Charity gift shops are enjoying a period of unprecedented popularity, with shoppers seeking vintage fashion as well as that perfect present in the run-up to Christmas. Combining, as they do, the merits of sustainability and giving to a well-deserved cause puts them in big demand during the festive season.
Popular shops such as Oxfam, Enable Ireland, NCBI, Barnardos, Trócaire, Dublin Simon Community and local enterprises including the Kilcoole Thrift Shop provide a wealth of options for bounty hunters seeking interesting cast-offs and pre-owned heirlooms as well as shiny new bargains.
Mark Sweeney, the donated stock strategist for Oxfam stores in Ireland, is in festive mode.
“Every year we remind our customers of our wide range of Christmas gifts that are Fair Trade, plus our Christmas cards that are really popular, and you can donate online as well,” he says. “It’s worth thinking about the range of Oxfam gifts for upcoming office parties or Secret Santa presents too.”
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For six decades, Oxfam shops across Ireland have offered people a way to buy stylish outfits that don’t cost the earth. From preloved clothes, shoes and accessories, vintage gems and designer bargains to books, homewares and even wedding dresses.
They provide the public with a meaningful way to donate their preloved goods, diverting them from landfill and thus reducing their carbon footprint.
Oxfam Ireland has 46 shops across the island, supported by more than 1,000 volunteers, and an online store too. Volunteers receive training in customer service, stock and cash management, and IT skills.
The Christmas Gifts of Love are popular with Trócaire supporters. Amid all of the consumerism and spending associated with Christmas, they give people the opportunity to buy a meaningful present from as little as €5 that can improve the life of somebody in financial need. Since their launch in 2000 the Irish public has bought more than a million life-changing Gifts of Love, supporting both Irish people in need and the world’s most vulnerable families too.
Mary Gamble is head of fundraising at Barnardos and a keen advocate of encouraging shoppers to buy a gift that helps in many ways.
“Christmas is a time of year when many people donate to charities,” she says. “All charities plan Christmas fundraising campaigns to reach out to donors who want to help alleviate the pain and suffering they see, especially in 2024. Our donors are concerned about the lives of others and the state of the world and they want to make a difference. Our shops offer a positive way in which we can achieve that change.”
Barnardos is also launching Christmas Jumper Day when everyone can join in the fun by coming together with colleagues, friends, family or classmates to wear a crazy, outrageous or even stylish Christmas jumper and raise funds for the charity. Schools, colleges and community groups can collect contributions on their appointed day or set up an online fundraising page.
Dublin Simon Community ensures its donors and supporters donate top-quality items to their shops that they can reuse and recycle.
“We stock our shops with high-quality goods, both new and reused, so not only are you getting value for money when you shop in here but the money you pay goes directly to Dublin Simon Community services,” a spokesperson for the charity says.
“The money goes to throngs of people experiencing homelessness in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan.”
Many of Dublin’s younger fashion cognoscenti pride themselves on tracking down prize pieces in charity shops too. One person’s second-hand clothing is another’s vintage fashion item and that’s why these low-key, understated places have become unlikely fashion destinations for a growing group of discerning shoppers.
Many of those working in these shops are volunteers freely giving up their time to run the store; having been to many, it is heartening to witness the effort they put into their sales pitch or dressing the shop window. A shop assistant in Oxfam Rathmines mentions the generous commercial partners that support these concerns.
“Marks & Spencer is a charity partner of ours and they kindly drop in trending merchandise every week at discount prices to assist the charity,” they say.
As well as fashion items, you can pick up cosmetic gift packs, perfumes, hairdryers, curling tongs – many of them still pristine in their packaging. They also receive lots of high-end goods that may have been ordered online but turned out to be the wrong size or style.
The Kilcoole Thrift Shop is a community-based concept spearheaded by Linda Ryan and run by a group of women who got together 15 years ago to open a shop that sold recycled goods and affordable clothing for the benefit of the community.
The shop is a treasure trove that really has made a difference, according to Paula Senior, one of the committed volunteers at the Co Wicklow outlet. “The gift shop donated €10,000 recently to help the elderly requiring assistance in the community. Then we also raised €5,000 for the RNLI,” she says proudly.
As well as supporting local community groups the shop donates to Pieta House, 5 Loaves and many more other causes. “We all row in together and do what we can here in Kilcoole,” says Paula. “We have a great clothing collection and designer shoes for fashion lovers. There are styles that would suit the mother of the bride or wedding guest outfits too.”
So, before you head off on a shopping spree or go online shopping, pause and think about the difference you can make by visiting your local charity shop.