Described as a ‘community inside a community’, one charity shop in Bulwell has seen a surge in customers since the cost of living crisis began. The charity shop is much more to customers and volunteers than what meets the eye.
The Scope charity shop in Bulwell on 20 Commercial Road has customers at its heart and has helped some volunteers turn their lives around. Always on the lookout for new volunteers, the charity currently has less than a dozen.
Sorting out donations and greeting customers are just some of the tasks volunteers get up to and for some customers, going inside to speak with staff and volunteers is their only social interaction. Once upon a time, Simon Kemp was homeless.
Scope’s sales of pre-loved goods are up six percent on last year, according to the team behind the counter.
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Now, he’s been volunteering at Scope for over 6 months. The 58-year-old who lives in the city centre said: “I’m happy to be here, it’s fantastic it helps with my anxiety and depression.
“You come in and you can have a laugh. People like me, we shouldn’t be behind closed doors, we deserve a life like everyone else. I’m good with the customers and we all [the volunteers] get along.”
The charity also supports younger volunteers who are completing their Duke of Edinburgh qualification. Shop manager, Sauwandi Hidellage, shared why she thinks the shop has seen a surge in customers.
She said: “The key thing is our volunteers, without them the shop wouldn’t be what it is. It is challenging, when I first came here, I was a bit lost but social media helps a lot, it’s so nice to see people in the community sharing my posts.
“Some weeks we have loads of donations and some weeks, it’s less but here it is like a community in a community. Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed a lot of new customers have been increasingly coming into our shop on Commercial Road and I’m so pleased that they’ve become our regulars. It’s fantastic that more people are realising how wonderful charity shops are in the community."
Sauwandi used to be an assistant manager at a Scope shop in Derby. She shared her favourite thing about working in the shop: “It’s the people.
“You realise that we do so much just by being on the shop floor, you never know what people are going through. What makes us different is that we’re clean, well-organised and sometimes when you walk in, it doesn’t look like a charity shop.
“Some of our volunteers have invisible disabilities and they get so much out of giving their time to Scope, their favourite task is working on the tills because they always have some great chats with our customers, which helps them too, and our customers absolutely love the incredible service our team gives.”
Volunteer Simon Kemp added: “I’ve had people ask me ‘how does it feel to have turned your life around’ and it’s great but it’s not about me, volunteering here is about our customers and the volunteers working together.”
Currently, the donations the charity shops are in need of include: electronics, menswear and ladies accessories.
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