R. L. Vaughan & Co.

The Chartered Accountants of Chislehurst

FOR TAX RETURNS

and offering all

accounting, taxation, payroll

and auditing services, as well

as management and business

consultancy

71-75 High Street, Chislehurst

Kent BR7 5AG

Telephone (020) 8467 0140

 

For the past thirteen years the Churches Together in Chislehurst (CTC) Charity Shop has been raising funds to help the poorest people around the world. It was the idea of the Rev. Geoffrey Fletcher when he came to Chislehurst from Wimbledon.  He was keen that the local churches did not just talk together but that they should do something more practical-hence the charity shop was created.

In the autumn of 1993 the shop opened at 72a High Street, now occupied by Image Photographic Studio.  After nearly a year it moved to its current premises at 66 High Street.  Within six months the shop had repaid its loans from some of the churches involved and had made its first charitable grant of £600.

 

The shop is run entirely by volunteers who each work at least 3 hours every week. Some work on the sales floor; serving customers, receiving donations of goods and replenishing stock.  Others work behind the scenes, sorting the goods into  categories before they are stored for pricing by yet more helpers. We accept small electrical goods, with some exceptions, and these are safety checked by a qualified volunteer before being priced and put on sale. Stock is culled regularly to make room for fresh items and unsold goods are recycled. Other tasks include interviewing and training prospective staff, organizing the sales floor rota, banking duties and committee work.

 

It’s not all work and no play! One of the volunteers told me, “It’s changed my life: given me a focus for the week.  I started doing Saturday mornings and I now do up to four sessions a week.  I enjoy working with my colleagues and meeting new people.”  Another volunteer regarded the shop as an Aladdin’s cave. We certainly have some weird and wonderful items. Frequently teachers, mothers or

students come in looking for costumes for school plays, productions or fancy dress, often with amazing success. One request this week was for a full-length dress with a medieval look, for a lady who was eight months pregnant!  Unfortunately that one did defeat us!

 

The shop works on several levels. It raises funds to help people in desperate need, mostly overseas; it serves the local community by selling items at very reasonable prices; it provides a friendly focus for our regular customers who enjoy a chat and a browse, and it helps the environment by recycling the donated goods. Sometimes they’re even recycled more than once – our customers read the book or wear the dress then re-donate it!

 

Each quarter the commissioners decide which projects to support: this time grants totalling £12,000 are being made. These comprise development projects including Harvest Help in Zambia; educational ventures including school development in Tanzania; health projects including the    Mildmay Mission Hospital in Uganda; and relief projects including a feeding program for children, homes for the

elderly and a victim support scheme in Zimbabwe. UK projects such as the Demelza /CHILD Children’s Hospice, for which the foundations have now been dug in Eltham, are also under consideration.  Our present aim is to give about £50,000 to similar causes each year.

 

Thank you to everyone who has donated or bought goods or given their time to make this happen. If you would like to be a part of this, volunteers are always welcome. 

 

Please call in at the shop or ring 020 8295 3624.

 

Since the shop was opened in 1993, well over half a million pounds has been raised for overseas charities.

‘It’s not all work and no play’

Ruth Mitchell reports on the Churches Together Shop in Chislehurst High Street