Mary Portas to open 15th Living & Giving Shop for Save the Children
Howard Lake | 2 September 2014 | News
Fashion entrepreneur Mary Portas will open the fifteenth of her Living & Giving Shops this week in London’s Islington. The new shop, at 138 Upper Street, will feature items donated by premium and luxury brands and retailers.
All profits from sales in store go directly to Save the Children.
Items on sale at its opening on Saturday 6 September include jewellery from Lestie Lee and Me & Zena, handbags from Sarah Forsyth, lighting and homeware from Pedlars, womenswear from Whistle & Wolf, Tiffany Rose and Lagom, tailored menswear from Thom Sweeney, and a collection of luxury men’s shoes from Mayfair cobbler Mr Hare.
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Cinema look in the redesign
The shop, a former bank, has been redesigned by interior designer Kate Monckton to look like a derelict picture house. This is a reflection of the area’s role in cinema history: Islington was once home to nearby Gainsborough Studios where Alfred Hitchcock started his career as a film director in the 1920s.
Mary Portas said:
“I am thrilled to announce the opening of the newest edition to our Living & Giving shops. Upper Street is a fabulous location and close to the heart of London’s creative industries. We are looking forward to getting to know our neighbours and creating a unique place where locals can get together and shop in an exciting new space.”.
Save the Children is appealing for more donations from residents, fashion houses and local artisans, as well as for local volunteers to work in the shop.
The charity is offering to everyone who brings a bag of donations on the opening weekend a goody bag filled with products from Neal’s Yard, Candy Kittens and Plenish cold-pressed organic juices.
How much have the shops raised?
Since the first Mary’s Living & Giving Shop for Save the Children opened in 2009, the shops have raised enough money to fund:
- construction of two primary schools in South Sudan, each consisting of 8 classrooms, plus sending 300 teachers to a recognised teacher training institute to complete all three levels of study for their teacher training certificate.
- provision for 24,000 extremely poor households in Bangladesh with homestead production starter kits for one year to support families to build a sustainable and diverse livelihood, and produce nutritious food for their own consumption
- support for 1,000 community health workers for a year
- Charity Retail Association rejects Mary Portas’ view on charity shop numbers (26 October 2011)
- Mary Portas to open Save the Children shop in Edinburgh (2 November 2009)
- ‘Mary, Queen of Charity Shops’ airs tomorrow (1 June 2009)
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.