The Charity Shop

Due to the present Coronavirus crisis the shop has to remain closed, and we are unable to receive any donations.   If you have items to donate, if possible, please keep them at home until the current restrictions can be relaxed.  Thank you for you support.

The Christ Church Charity Shop is located just inside the main doors of the church, go through the doors and turn left into the shop. During opening hours the Shop also uses part of the Holland Room at the back of the church to display goods.

Opening Hours

The Charity Shop is usually open as follows:

Monday  11.00am – 4pm

Tuesday 11.40am – 4.00pm

Wednesday 11.30am – 4.00pm

Thursday 11.30am – 5.00pm

Friday 11.30am – 4.00pm

Saturday  Closed

Sunday Closed

The shop is open throughout the year, with the exception of a week after Christmas and a week after Easter.  This year it will be closed between December 25th 2018 and Wednesday January 2nd 2019 (opening again on January 3rd), and between Friday April 19th and Friday April 26th (opening again on Monday 29th).    

Donating items

We are grateful for all of the following items:

Clothing and Shoes, including children’s clothes

Household Textiles (for example duvet covers, towels)

Household Items (for example cutlery, mugs, crockery, cooking pots, glassware) 

General Bric-a-Brac (for example, ornaments, pictures)

Books, DVD’s, CD’s

We are unable to accept:

Electrical Items

Furniture

Mattresses 

If possible please bring these into the Shop during Shop opening hours.  If you are unable to come to the Shop to drop off items during these times items may be left outside the main church doors. The best time to leave donnations outside the doors is on a weekday before the Shop opens.  If you have a large number of donnations, or particualry valuable donnations, and are unable to get to the Shop when it is open please contact us to arrange a mutually convenient time to drop them off.

We need help! – Volunteering in the Shop

The Charity Shop is staffed by a committed group of volunteers.

Working in the Shop is often good fun.  Some customers come in for a chat as well as look around.

There are always two people working together. Work includes sorting, pricing, and displaying donations, as well as serving customers.  The day starts at 10.30 and finishes at about 4.15pm.  Tea and coffee is provided and volunteers are entitled to a discount at the Café van Gogh.

Full induction and training is provided and most volunteers work at least one full day each week.  I you would ike to know more about volunteering in the Shop just drop in during opening hours and have a chat with the staff.

More about the Shop

The Charity Shop was started in the 1990’s, during a period of major development at Christ Church.  It has always raised money to support the wider work of the church, but for the last few years profit made has been donated to a designated fund to support the churches work with children, young people and senior members of the local community.

But the purpose of the shop is not simply to raise funds just as important is the role it plays in allowing the church building to be open and to provide a place for people to drop in for a chat.

When it first opened the Shop was located in the boiler room! Then it moved to the upstairs area in what is now the Café van Gogh, before spending many years in the Holland Room, under the gallery at the back of the church. Two years ago as part of the redevelopment of this part of the church building, it was moved again, to a new home in a properly fitted out space in what had previously been the café kitchen.  If you haven’t visited it yet, why not drop in.