# Charity shops' turnover reached nearly £1 billion in past year

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/05/14/charity-shops039-turnover-reached-nearly-1-billion-past-year/
- Published: 2012-05-14T11:46:22+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Charity shops in the UK handled nearly £1 billion of turnover in 2011, a record
amount, and an increase of 3.6% on the previous year.**

The research from the Charity Retail Association shows that more people are buying
from charity shops, with nearly one million more people “from hard-pressed middle
class groups are shopping in charity shops since June last year.”

## Choose Charity Shops campaign launched

However, many charity shops are struggling to meet the increased demand. National
charities have combined to launch the ‘Choose Charity Shops’ campaign to get more
donated goods through the doors of charity shops. The campaign runs throughout this
week.

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It is supported by existing Charity Retail Association members including Oxfam, 
Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross and Barnardo’s, 
together with hundreds of local hospices and smaller charities.

The high demand is set to continue. According to the research, 22% of respondents
said that they are shopping in charity shops more frequently now than two years 
ago, and 19% of existing customers said they would buy even more from charity shops
in the next 12 months.

However, charities are facing competition in how to dispose of unwanted clothes 
and goods. One in six people report they have started selling their unwanted clothes
to make money instead of donating them. In addition, 15% of people who did not donate
said it was because they could not afford to buy new clothing so are keeping things
for longer.

## Unwanted clothing still not being donated

The Charity Retail Association said that there are still millions of people with
unwanted clothing and goods at home that could be converted into cash for charities.
The survey found taht three quarters of people saying they have clothing in their
wardrobe they no longer use, while the top three reasons people don’t donate is 
because they haven’t got round to it, haven’t had time or simply haven’t thought
about it.

Warren Alexander, Chief Executive of the Charity Retail Association, said: “The 
unused and unwanted items in people’s homes are worth millions of pounds to charities,
and we hope the ‘Choose Charity Shops’ campaign will act as a reminder to people
that making a donation of unused clothing or goods to their local charity shop is
a great way to help charity when you don’t have cash to give.”

www.choosecharityshops.org

 * **[Petition submitted to save Welsh charity shops](https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/01/11/petition-submitted-save-welsh-charity-shops/)**(
   11 January 2013)
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   16 January 2014)
 * **[Nisyst, Cats Protection & Barnardo’s among Charity Retail Awards 2017 winners](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/07/17/nisyst-cats-protection-barnardos-among-charity-retail-awards-2017-winners/)**(
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