A city centre charity shop is celebrating ten years of being open this month, with a family fun day to be held on Saturday 26th November, and a host of other events planned for the rest of its tenth anniversary year. One of Aberdeen’s most popular charity shops, Home-Start Aberdeen’s George Street shop first opened its doors to the public in November 2012.
From 11am – 3pm this Saturday, children will be treated to a host of fun-filled activities, from festive tattoos and balloons to colouring activities, as well as the chance to take home some fun freebies. The shop’s mascot, Alfie Bear, will also be making an appearance.
Shop Manager, Karen Milne, has worked at the shop since its opening. She said: ”It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole decade since we opened our George Street shop – in some ways it feels like only yesterday! It’s been interesting to reflect on footfall in the shop during that time – the first few years were very busy, then we noticed a gradual drop in shoppers, then Covid hit. But we seemed to come back stronger after the pandemic, with a high number of repeat customers as well as plenty of new ones.”
But as footfall has increased, donations to the shop have decreased, as Karen continues: “I think people are more conscious of recycling and repurposing now than they used to be – we’re definitely seeing fewer donations. We always welcome items for the shop and would never turn anything away.”
As the charity shop’s only paid staff, Karen and her colleague Brenda Fraser are also on the lookout for more volunteers to help:
“I’d like to thank all the volunteers who’ve helped us out over the years – we must’ve had around 30 of them in that time. We have a great wee team here today, and we couldn’t do any of it without them, but we always need more help.”
“We’re really looking forward to welcoming families to the shop on Saturday – with plenty to keep kids entertained, we want to offer parents and carers the chance to have a quick browse and maybe pick up a bargain for Christmas – the beauty of a charity shop is that you never know what you might find.”
A number of other events are planned for the tenth anniversary year including a 2023 Spring shopping day with prosecco and nibbles, and an end-of-year raffle.
All money spent in the George Street shop goes towards helping families in Aberdeen. For over 30 years Home-Start Aberdeen has been supporting vulnerable families across the city to prevent family crisis and breakdown. These families have at least one child under the age of five and are typically affected by social isolation, bereavement, relationship problems, illness, disability and financial hardship. Home Start Aberdeen positively welcomes and seeks to ensure we achieve diversity. We encourage interest from all regardless of age, race, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or nationality. For more information on Home-Start Aberdeen visit www.homestartaberdeen.org.uk
