Guess who's back...?!

....Back again!

We are back and open and ready for business. Well half the team is. The other half is still looking after the Hammersmith shop for the moment. 

Brook Green is ready for your donations and your custom!

We are also in need of more volunteers as we are pleased to announce that Andreea is now Assistant Manager at Hammersmith! 
Horrah, Woohoo, and Congratulations to her in her new role and GOOD LUCK from all of us!

Bye for now
BG

pssst

It's been a while, sorry, but we have been super busy (yeah, we are always super busy!) rearranging the shop ready for spring!

If the rain ever stops and sun ever comes out....WE WILL BE READY!

Therefore this is just to let you know we have a SALE on certain items - Super thick Coats/Jumpers, Hats and Gloves and other random items, just to make you check everything ;) 

SALE, SALE, CONGA, SALE, SALE, CONGA, Sale sale sale saaaalee 

Everyone loves a sale!

Bye for now

BG 

Happy New Year!

The festivities are nearly over for another year and as 2013 disappears over the cloudy horizon, in rolls 2014 with new exciting things for Brook Green (We hope!)

We would like to thank every customer, every donor, every gift aid sign up, and everyone reading this blog for their support and patronage this year, in keeping us full of goodies and raising money for Trinity Hospice.

We have improved sales on last year and intend to keep the upward trend, but we couldn't do it without you all, 

so we sincerely thank you.

And as a little treat (and to copy all the big shops) we have our January sale on.
Up to 75% off!!
So with tops from as little as 50p, dresses from £2, and coats from £5, treat yourself to a new wardrobe at Trinity Hospice Brook Green.

But then of course you realise your wardrobe is too full/full of things you now hate/things that don't fit and you need to have a clear out.
Well please bring them to us, during opening hours, and we can make very good use of them.
Without your awesome donations our shop would be empty and we would be sad and that would never do :(
Also as I mention pretty much every post (Sorry...I'm not sorry!! Gift Aid is worth mentioning every time as it all adds up!) if you are a UK taxpayer we can claim Gift Aid on any time as we sell it and this helps more money go to Trinity Hospice, which is why we are here in the first place!

Enough shop talk now...

We hope you have a lovely New Year and look forward to whatever the future will bring.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Picked this one as 1) They haven't got to that part yet here in London 2013, 2) Big Ben explodes! and 3) It was the first one I found on YouTube...)

Bye for now
BG

Meet the Volunteers - Yolaine

End of the week and the final volunteer to introduce you all to. (Well until we get some new ones in)

The shop as been going since Jan 2011 and Yolaine was there from the start.
Every Saturday afternoon, you can find her serving customers and putting stuff out, tidying and tagging. As long as I keep her full of peppermint tea, all is well.

Born in France, Yolaine is great at spotting all the french labels which comes in (which is quite a lot as Brook Green is a rather French area in London) and when a french customer comes in I can pretend I am in Provence while their conversation flows....

Bonjour Yolaine!

Yolaine is also the inventor of 'Photo of the Week'. Basically it allows her to try on oversized dresses and onesies and silly hats and shoes. Might even share some of those photos with you in this blog at some point, if you ask nicely....

Yolaine says "I look forward to my Saturday afternoon in the shop to, jouer á la marchande. I enjoy learning new skills which is totally different to my line of work (HR Management), and meeting new people every week. Plus after 18 years in the UK I can still learn new things!"

***

If you wish to volunteer at Brook Green or any of Trinity Hospice shops (Locations here) get in touch by emailing Anna Alcock retailvolunteers@trinityhospice.org.uk or phoning her on 020 7787 1000

Bye for now
BG

Meet the Volunteers - Lisa

It's Wednesday so that means Lisa is in to swish up and replenish the bric-a-brac.

Along with being super and opening up when I have morning meetings etc, Lisa is our bric-a-brac display woman who makes sure the old stuff sells and the new stuff looks amazing.

The lovely Lisa and her bargain bric-a-brac

Lisa has been at Brook Green pretty much since we opened in 2011 and knows everything there is to know about stuff in the shop. Find her rearranging things or on the till Wednesday morning and she will help you find what you are after.

Mother to 2 lovely boys, Lisa works around school times to have some time for herself....and to find the best bargains as she does love to shop.

Supplied with coffee and given many jobs to do I can concentrate on clearing space and sorting stock and I know the shop will be perfect in Lisa's capable hands.

All the volunteers are great at signing up Gift Aid donors, but Lisa gives herself the challenge to grab more then most - and I can happily say I don't bribe her to do it...unless the extra coffee counts!

When Lisa leaves Wednesday afternoon her shift is taken over by Andreea

Lisa in her own words "When I first started I had not worked for a long time. Since volunteering at Brook Green, I have learnt loads (ie: How to work a till) and I have become more confident. I enjoy working at the shop because the other staff are lovely and I get on with everyone. I also like to have a few hours just getting away from home and being in a different environment. I cannot see myself ever leaving because of how fun it is to work at Brook Green."
(And I definitely didn't bribe her to say that! Honest!)

***

If you wish to volunteer at Brook Green or any of Trinity Hospice shops (Locations here) get in touch by emailing Anna Alcock retailvolunteers@trinityhospice.org.uk or phoning her on 020 7787 1000

Bye for now
BG

Meet the Volunteers - Joshua

Another day, another blog, and another lovely Brook Green volunteer to tell about.

Joshua was the first male volunteer in Brook Green and so in his interview we made him assemble things and reach stuff.... I do jest, but in fairness, Joshua can reach things I can't!

Joshua came to us to fill his time for half a day, and a year and a bit later we now have him here 2 days a week. Monday afternoons and Tuesday afternoons.
His drink of choice is a strong coffee, 2 sugars, which he will drink while boiling! Still can't get over that. Iron gullet!

His favourite job is sweeping the floor. Oh how he hates me when I hand him the broom, but to his credit he does it and then demands a coffee. Deal done.

He is very camera shy, so you will just have to pop in to see what he looks like. You will find him at the till, taking all the money as he is one of my top sellers. But he also does sorting and tagging, and any job which I send his way. Plus he loves a bit of rock music so I know when Joshua is in charge of the CD player as this is waffting out of it....

(plus Queen are my favourite band, so bonus points all round!)

***

If you wish to volunteer at Brook Green or any of Trinity Hospice shops (Locations here) get in touch by emailing Anna Alcock retailvolunteers@trinityhospice.org.uk or phoning her on 020 7787 1000

Bye for now

BG

Meet the Volunteers - Kat

I said I would introduce you to our lovely team of volunteers and so here we are on this lovely Monday morning, blogging, while the volunteer in question is serving customers! (It's all about delegation!)

Trinity Hospice shops all have a manager, some have an assistant manager, but we wouldn't be able to run without the kind help and support from people donating their time during the week to work in the shops.

If you wondered who dresses our windows along with the manager, it is this talented volunteer.
From Peru, Kat started volunteering to help improve her English and learn some retail skills. She did so well and we spotted her eye for making outfits 'pop' so we let her loose on our dummies and our window dresser was born.

Monday, 11.30ish, naked windows. Hour later and voilà - beautiful outfits and shoes ready for selling! Sometimes she does so well the garments don't even make the dummy before someone wants to buy them.

Clashing colours, same colour different textures, prints etc, all used to full advantage by Kat and our customers love it. We even have one lady who makes a point of going for her run at 1pm every Monday so she can run past and see Kat's new creation.

Kat say, "I have such fun trying out styling the windows, and it has really helped my English skills being here and dealing with customers."

This week Kat has gone for the Green with a dash of Red/Pink

 Burberry top for £45

I say its another winning window. Hurrah!

***

If you wish to volunteer at Brook Green or any of Trinity Hospice shops (Locations here) get in touch by emailing Anna Alcock retailvolunteers@trinityhospice.org.uk or phoning her on 020 7787 1000

Bye for now
BG

Next week treats....

We have decided it is high time you 'meet' the volunteers.

Without these lovely people giving up their time during the week and weekends, Brook Green would not be as tidy or as busy or as fun a place to be.
They are the key players in running the shop and each of them have skills to bring to make Brook Green a better place. Awww.

Starting on Monday, they will be posted up on the day they work.

Now play nicely, and I'll see you all bright and early Monday.

Bye for now
BG

Showing off

Just a post to show off how the shop looks! Admire Brook Green!
(and to show off the new display cabinet....if only I could work out how to put the doors on. Should be so easy but....) 

New items go out everyday so it is always changing, but we always try to keep it tidy!

Making sure old stock gets sold or sent to other shops after 2 weeks on sale, so we can fill up with lovely new stock is a constant job, but without doing it we wouldn't get the lovely regular customers we have. Who wants to come into a shop and see the same things every time?! With donations coming in everyday (Thank you so much!) we don't have the space to hoard it away, so out it goes for sale.

COME IN AND BUY IT ALL!!! please.

(Disclaimer - These photos have been taken either aaaaaaaaaages ago or within a few days of each other, so you might see a few 'repeat' items)

   

Check out the new cabinet! Horrah! It fits somewhere! Totally worth the hours and hours of moving.
See All Change blog....

Bye for now

BG

All Change

Today has been a day of rearranging the shop, after we had a brilliant donation from Robert James Sound and Vision of an unwanted display cabinet.

Trying to find the best place where we can make use of it was fun (!). 2+ hours of moving, changing minds and then changing them back again, along with cleaning a plenty. AND of course this was when most of the customers decided to come in and browse and spend! Luckily the Tuesday manly men volunteer team of Pat and Joshua were on hand to assist.

Photos to follow once it is filled with goodies, and it's position is cemented in (still deciding exactly if I like it where it is....trial and error....)

Still it's cup of tea and a slice of cake time now.

Bye for now
BG

Window Shopping....

The windows are possibly one of the most important areas of the Brook Green Shop. It is our advertisement for our stock and the best way to 'show off' and tempt in customers.

It's not easy to change the windows as often as we like, seeing as we never know what stock is coming in each day, we try to do something new at least every 3 days.

So here are some past window displays for you to take a gander at
Sorry for such rubbish photos, but our windows are so clean and shiny there is always glare/reflection....



The 3 P's - Pink, Purple and Peach

Unlike some Charity shops we sell from the window, so if you see anything you like, pop in and buy.

Orange and Gold

 

Plus it gives us a challenge to change the window and still have a theme/ keep it matching!

Every Monday is Window day, and we have some regular customers which make a point of coming in to see what we come up with.
The window is changed by the lovely volunteer Kat, who has a great eye for colour, with a little bit of input from the shop manager.

We do have a male dummy on our side window before anyone says we are sexist, so we will make a point of doing a MAN blog post soon. Promise.

Christmas 2011

Bye for now
BG



"Without Music, Life would be a mistake"

Well, that's what Friedrich Nietzsche tells us in Twilight of the Idols.
Not that we want to get too highbrow here (yes we totally googled for that quote. Who has read Nietzsche,...really?), but he does have a point.
Music is everywhere now and we want some!

We are in desperate need of CDs and interesting records (please not Perry Como or Blah does Blah in the style of Blah. Not that there is anything wrong with them, but we have plenty already. Alan Smith plays Showtunes with Bagpipes, anyone?)

So, in the words of AC/DC, For those about to rock, we salute you (but please share the love and bring in some music to our shop!)

All genres welcome, but please no scratched ones, or cheeky homemade ones*

*yes believe it or not, they do get donated and it costs us to dispose of them so please don't do it.

Bye for now
BG

Get ready for the British Summer....

....and buy some Knitwear!



Per Una Jumper £3

We all know how rubbish the British weather is. It is the one thing we can all talk about. It is probably one of the main topics of conversation with our customers, so we at Brook Green like to be ready for all possible weathers.
Where else other then the humble charity shop can you buy skis and weatherproof jackets at the same time as bikinis and vest tops? (except maybe the internet, but that doesn't count...)

Of course we change the shop around for each season, but knowing the summer weather and what customers want/need to buy we still sneak out some winter warmth. Going on a skiing holiday in June?, or has a monsoon just cracked open the storm clouds?, pop in to see us, as unlike those designer or high street shops we are not forced to be seasonally stocked. Anything goes!
(Although in saying that we are not totally silly and so store winter items away for winter in the summer and summery summer items away in the winter. We are just like boy scouts. Prepared. Just in case the weather turns)

Why not try this bright wide necked jumper?



Asos wool Jumper £5

Or this funky Tsumori Chisato jumper for a bargain £20 (which if it was my size I would totally buy!)

We also have various hats, gloves and scarves instore, so please pop in and get ready for summer!

Bye for now
BG

And so it begins....

Halfway between Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush, exists Brook Green's best kept secret. Trinity Hospice's shop at 84 Shepherds Bush Road, W6 7PD, is full of anything and everything people can donate!

This first blog is to introduce you to our shop and Trinity Hospice, but we hope to introduce you to staff and volunteers, show stock and the interesting, unusual and exciting donations.

The Brook Green store has a loyal and generous local community providing high quality regular donations of pre-owned stock - clean, high quality merchandise.

This means new stock all the time and designer labels at accessible prices.

For shopping that wont break the bank and knowing you are helping to support Trinity Hospice, we have the most amazing new and nearly new designer and vintage bargains. Search out our donated designer labels from brands like Paul Smith, Kenzo, Prada, Miu Miu, Diane Von Furstenburg, Chloe, Hugo Boss, and Armani and many others!

We carry woman's wear and menswear, accessories, home ware, art,  books - including 1st editions and collectables, music and children's clothes and toys.  New stock goes out everyday so you never know what you might find....



We rely on donations and so there may be some blog pleas on occasion, but we do ask nicely!  When stock is donated we would love everyone to sign up to Gift Aid. It only works if you are a UK Taxpayer, but it really helps us as it increases the value of your donation at no cost to you.  Gift Aid now adds 25% to the value of the goods you donate to Trinity.
The important information here explains all. It might not sound a lot (25p extra for £1) but it all adds up!


 
This blog is here to raise the profile of the Trinity Hospice charity so please feel free to use the comments section to express an interest in your favourite items and support
Trinity Hospice (or find them on twitter or facebook)

Trinity provides skilled, compassionate end of life care to individuals and support for families in our central and south west London community.  All our patient and family services are free of charge.  Our services include nursing and medical care, counselling and practical support, welfare advice, occupational and physiotherapy, complementary therapies, creative activities and bereavement care.  It costs £9.6 million each year to maintain Trinity’s services but less than a third of our funding comes from the NHS. We depend on the support of our local community in the form of donations, fundraising and legacies to continue our work. 

Trinity Hospice History



And so the Brook Green Shop Blog begins....