Save the Children

There’s a hell of a lot of charity shops toward the student-​leaning end of Albany Road, almost certainly more so than any one other single type of store in the area. On one hand, charity shop density could probably be turned into an unofficial index of a street’s desirability. On the other, it means bargains galore — and this Save The Children pitches itself nicely in the middle ground between the tat similar nearby outlets flog and Oxfam’s above-​its-​station boutique efforts a few doors away. It’s probably the best on Albany Road, indeed. Once in a while a stack of CDs that would shame Roath’s second hand music specialists arrive, sold unsurprisingly at a fraction of the price, while expected charity shop ranges of clothes and trinkets are all well stocked. Sadly, though, rising running costs have conspired to make the future look grim for this branch. So don’t just use it as a dumping ground for your unwanted junk; buy something and chances are you’ll pick up an interesting item for your donation to a great cause.

As charity shops go this one has a lot of great stock from some pretty good donations. Clothes, books and other nick nacks are everywhere. Many bargain hunters will be looking to get some retro or boutique quality wears from here, but for me I am on the hunt for that ever-​elusive prey, a good book at lowest prices.
Save the children is only slightly better kept than Vision gift shop and that a shame as a lot of the other charity shops put a lot of effort into sorting and making the shopping experience more professional.

I don’t know what it is about this charity shop, but they always have such cool stuff.
The clothes are always really nice. I got an amazing pair of jeans a couple of weeks ago for a bargain £1.50 and splashed out on a brand new blazer for £4. I’ve started to realise some of my favourite outfits are made up of things from this shop.
And it doesn’t stop there. I can always find a couple of DVDs here which tickle my fancy so it’s always good to swing by here before heading to Blockbuster. The books, too, are always mighty impressive.
However they do it, Save The Children are certainly onto something. Quality reselling must attract a high standard of donations; you certainly can’t picture anyone bringing any old rubbish here. They also have a scheme where if you bring in a bag of decent items, they’ll knock 50% off your purchases.
This is a opportunity to reinvent your wardrobe. Just make sure I don’t get there first!
URBAN CHALLENGE: Find a new outfit

Albany road is a charity shop haven and when you want your fill of charity shops then this is your place to go. With all those saved pennies you can grab yourself a nice slice of cake and a coffee as Albany road is full of establishments to suit any snacking budget.
Now I love charity shops and it is some what of a necessity when times are hard and you need to be a bit more economical with your cash. Not only do you get an incredible bargain, but you can get your mits on stuff that just isn’t around anymore, pure retro bliss.
Save the Children is your standard charity shop full of exciting items for your perusal, clothes, books, music, games, the whole kaboodle. I managed to get my partner a rather sexy t-​shirt (well I think so) fingers crossed he doesn’t send it packing back to Save the Children.

So far Save The Children has provided help to 500,000 people in Pakistan’s devastated flood affected area, including medical care, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene items, water purification sachets and food. They have established 63 child-​friendly spaces and are working with communities to address issues that affect children’s well-​being. With the threat of water born diseases such as cholera taking hold, it is imperative to act quickly to avert many more deaths in this region.
There are several ways of supporting these efforts. Money can be donated or you can sort through your unwanted household items and pop them down to the shop.
Items wanted include ladies fashion, children’s and menswear, books, DVDs, CD’s and vinyl records. All of these items are clearly for sale as well… and now that the weather is turning you may want to consider getting your Christmas cards a little earlier this year?

Some charity shops nowadays seem to have got a little bit carried away with themselves, trying to charge a little too much for things that just aren’t quite nice enough. The Oxfam Boutique is a case in point, because it tries to charge boutique prices for ordinary clothes. Anyway, this is completely irrelevant because this is a good proper charity shop. The kind that your nanny goes to to buy little china dishes because ‘It’s nice and I’m sure it’ll come in handy at some point.’ It definitely won’t ever come in handy — it’s a spaniel figurine holding an empty bowl with a woebegone expression on its face… But that’s part of the charm if I’m honest. If you go for a rummage, you’ll find the staff more than happy to help and, who knows, you might even rustle up a gem or two.