YMCA

George Street has the highest prevalence of charity shops that I have ever seen in my life. Pretty much every local and national charity seems to have a presence here, or round the corner on Blatchington road. I’m amazed there is enough second hand stuff to go around! Although, to be honest, according to my trip into this YMCA shop, there isn’t really. Maybe they were having an off day but the rails were pretty bare. The fact that the shop had your standard tired old grey carpet and used clothes smell didn’t liven it up either. The YMCA has a high presence in Hove with lots of shop fronts, so perhaps they are just spreading themselves a little thin. I think The YMCA shops are a better bet for homewares anyway, on account of the fact that they have a collection point at the tip on the Old Shoreham Road, so they scoop up a lot of unwanted furniture and so on.

The YMCA isn’t a cause I would go out of my way to support, but their George Street branch is superlatively good. When I found myself here recently, drawn in by the Scouting window display, I was pleased to discover a wide selection of men’s attire, although as ever predominantly for the larger framed among us. Still, it’s increasingly unusual for a charity shop to have any menswear at all, and had I been a smidge taller, broader and, er, deeper, I could have picked up something of a bargain.
The bric a brac was also a good find, with several solid sets of crockery and even cutlery hiding out among more decorative objects. The glory of the selection for me though was the array of old Ordnance Survey maps, which I immediately coveted as historical objects, purely to glory in the sight and smell of sepia. The layout of the shop also draws you in rather nicely, as you’re unable to see everything from the doorway, so as you progress into the anteroom you feel as though you’re really making discoveries. Definitely a good visit.

Staying on a home tip, this wee branch of YMCA usually has a pretty good mix of kitchenware and home décor. Sets of plates, mugs, cups and glasses are displayed on shelves in-​between old saucepans, casserole dishes, salad bowls and coffee pots. New stock seems to arrive on a daily basis with every period covered from the 1950s to the present.
If you already have all the cutlery and pots you could use, the shop also sells secondhand vases, ornaments, candlesticks, curtains, bedding, childrens toys, shoes, boots and clothes. Like every charity shop however, the quality varies from almost new to threadbare.

YMCA has a good strategy for dealing with all these fairly useless VHS films: they’re only 39p and they’re right near the front door. Go ahead — take the whole bin and run. We don’t mind.
The DVD, CD and book collections are nearer the back at higher prices. The few paperbacks I looked at were £4. The clothing and accessories I passed on my way through the shop were pretty charity-​shop-​standard: musty and cheap. The home décor section is the highlight here — these items are well displayed and high quality.
Some prices are a bit much for second hand — vases and knick knacks for around £10 sound like unused prices to me — whilst other items (mugs and wine glasses) are the usual 50p to £1. There are quite a few full sets of dishes as well — I’d recommend checking the YMCA shop out for the houseware section — a bit pricier, but of course it’s for a good cause.