WIREDGOV

Charity shop popularity is at an all time high with new research by the Charity Retail Association highlighting the national love affair with charity shops is booming, with sales reaching a record breaking £1 billion last year (2011-2012).

This echoes our shops success (2011-2012) as like-for-like sales rose by 3.1% - generating a profit of over £31 million, making it the charity’s most profitable year to date.

However, as our charity shops grow in popularity, the main concern is keeping up with demand. With 22% of people admitting they are shopping in charity shops more frequently than a couple of years ago, the need for donations has never been so great.

BHF's Retail Director, Mike Lucas, said: “After identifying that more people are shopping in charity shops but not necessarily donating, we want to send out a strong message that our shops love the things you bring. Donations are vital to the success of our shops - we’re keen to receive all saleable donations to help us continue our life-saving work. Every donation means a great deal to a patient suffering from heart disease”.

"This week, charities across the country are joining forces to ask the British public to have a clear out and take unwanted items down to their local charity shop. Your support is vital to the future success of charity shops”.

With three quarters of people saying they have items in their wardrobe they no longer use there’s never been a better time to support your local charity shop.

Our shops are urgently appealing for good quality clothing, accessories, handbags, shoes, books, records, videos, DVDs, CDs and bric-a-brac.