Post-Christmas clear-out sees unwanted presents find new homes

It’s true that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure – and traditionally this is one of the busiest times of the year for charity shops as people donate unwanted Christmas gifts.

You know how it is. You return to your normal routine and realise you have too many make-up brushes, a surplus of body lotions and potions and no room on your book shelves for your newly acquired book gifts. Something’s gotta give.

Unless you’re a hoarder, there’s no choice but to do a clear out and this is where charity shops come into it. Not only will you be re-organising your own house but helping others at the same time.

Other than duvets, most items are acceptable and three of Galway’s four established charity shops reported a busy post-Christmas period .

But despite a national campaign launched by Oxfam before Christmas seeking unwanted Christmas gifts, the Galway shop reported a decrease in donations on this time last year.

It is quite possible that the location of the shop on the edge of the pedestrianised part of Abbeygate Street, which meets Middle Street may be a hindrance to people delivering bags of clothes, bric-a-brac or books to the premises.

Oxfam has over 30 shops on the island of Ireland and has a partnership with Marks and Spencer which means they regularly get end of stock or out of season goods from the company, a factor which attracts a number of regular customers on the look out for bargains.

A spokeswoman for the Oxfam shop locally said that as well as the donations of goods, people also donated cash, which was something that the organisation required if they were to continue their good works in 94 countries across the world.

The tiny shop is choc-a-bloc with clothes for men and women and children of all ages, books, bric-a-brac, CDs, DVDs and at the moment a limited amount of Christmas related goods on discount!

To overcome the access problem for people with goods to donate, Oxfam will collect in and around the city.

Around the corner on Merchants Road there are two charity shops, the Curiosity Shop run by the St Vincent de Paul Society which is one of the longest established of them in the city, and the Irish Cancer Society further along the road which opened a year and a half ago.

The Curiosity Shop is really two shops – one which sells clothes, books and accessories in one large space and a furniture shop next door.

A volunteer in the furniture shop said there was a great run on three-piece suites – the furniture shop run by the Simon Community in Briarhill had sold three of its six three-piece suites in the post-Christmas period.

The Curiosity Shop does accept some electrical goods, mostly new ones, but are wary of taking used electrical items.

Aileen O’Mara, the Manager of the Irish Cancer Society Shop, says her rule of thumb with electrical goods is she doesn’t accept anything with an element in it, unless of course it is a brand new item still in its box.

Her outlet has been very busy this year, something she puts down to most families having been touched by cancer in some way.

And like the Curiosity Shop, it’s location on a two-lane road is quite accessible, which no doubt contributes to its success.

Aileen and her team of volunteers were run off their feet since opening on Friday after Christmas with the number of donations being left into the shop. Their problem is storage. Everything has to be sorted in a room off the shop floor, though as the shop was quite busy with customers, some of the items, especially baby clothes, were being sold almost as soon as they were put on display.

In their case, a number of local businesses donate which guarantees a limited selection of new goods at discounted prices.

“We have had great support since we opened in May 2013 and it’s probably because cancer is close to a lot of peoples hearts and they know the money raised through the shops goes to cancer research and towards paying for the Daffodil nursing care service,” she adds.

The rails and shelves of her shop, which employs two people including Aileen and is operated thanks to a team of volunteers, were full to the brim this week as they were being replaced almost as soon as they were being emptied.

The second Simon shop is located on the Sea Road and is probably the city’s second longest established charity shop.