The secret life of the charity shop – revealed in a novel
Howard Lake | 15 January 2008 | Blogs
Considering how many people work for charities, whether paid or unpaid, it is remarkable how few novels, films, and TV series there are that tell the tale of life as a charity worker or volunteer.
Christine Williams could therefore be one of the first to lift the lid since her first novel, “Charity Begins”, relates the experiences of Gillian Morris who begins a new job as Area Manager for a large national charity’s chain of shops.
“From an amorous stalker, power failures and a team of highly eccentric staff, to a shop demolished by a runaway truck and a thief among her workers, her first few days are enough to make her feel like her very own charity case”, explains the book’s publicity material.
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- Novel fundraising idea raises £25,000 (6 December 2000)
Williams is basing her novel on her seven years’ experience as an Area shops Manager for local and national charities. Indeed, she was struck by how colleagues often said that someone should write a book about this hidden world, especially when something unusual, disastrous or simply daft happened. So, she did!
Charity Begins is published by Pen Press Publishers Ltd at £6.99.
Other novels about fundraising and philanthropy
- The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
- Oval by Elvia Wilk
- Trust by Hernan Diaz
- The Wager by Calista Kyle
- Coming Home by Leeanna Morgan
- The Zombie Ball: An Evening of Murder & Magic by John Gaspard
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.