Barnardo’s

On the same street as YMCA and Samaritans, Barnados is a small charity shop that has a good pick and mix of clothes, shoes, accessories, jewellery, DVDs and CDs. The homeware section is usually pretty slim but at the book of the store, there’s a cluster of shelves filled with new and secondhand novels, anthologies, autobiographies and true crime books. Prices are low to reasonable compared to other charity shops in the area and the staff are usually quite chatty and cheerful.

What I liked about Barnardos were the signs up telling me what a £5 or £10 purchase could do — that’s also why I like Oxfam. Even if it’s not where your actual £5 goes, it’s nice to have a concrete idea of what you can help with. I think more charity shops should do this.
Anyway, this Barnardo location has a good supply of books — so many that they’ve put a big crate of them outside to lure people in.
Inside are also DVDs and CDs, the usual clothes and accessories — I noticed a nice rail of women’s knitted cardigans by the door. (It’s almost like they were trying to lure me, specifically, inside.)
Accessories included many scarves and winter hats along with bright, colourful jewellery, and some greeting cards were only 69p.
Barnardos also has an urgent stock appeal, so if you have anything to spare, now’s a good time to donate.