How lovely to be able to get back to one of our regular tasks at Scope's city centre charity shop.

Lockdown has resulted in a huge surge in donations recently, as households across the country have used their time to clear out their cupboards. While this is great news for the charity shops, it has also meant a massive increase in the workload for staff and volunteers. So any help we can give, is gratefully accepted.

Arriving a little early, I was looking for bargains in the shop window, when our newest member Phillip arrived, having cycled across Town for his first GoodGym session. Next to arrive was Chris followed by super sisters, Claire and Ruth. Our dream team assembled, we headed into the shop.

The lovely Dawn was on hand to set us to work, splitting us into two teams: Phil and Chris tackled the heap of donations that needed to be transferred from the shop floor, to the storage/sorting area in the basement, so lots of steps training for them! Meanwhile, Ruth, Claire and I looked through the hundreds of items on the shop floor, checking for dates before 19/9...then removing the little plastic discs from the hangers. It was so hot that we were soon 'glowing with perspiration' 🥵.

Within the hour, our jobs were completed, and Dawn was over the moon. She said we had saved her hours of work, allowing her to concentrate on other tasks.

I'm sure we will be revisiting before too long.