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 ‘Charity Chic’ returns for the third programme in the groundbreaking new series looking at the phenomenon of charity shops and inspiring you to get involved and volunteer for your local shop or become a charity shopper yourself. Coming up in this week's show: we meet the magazine editor putting charity fashion on the front page; The Children's Society discuss their innovative project to transform illegal rags into designer togs; and we discover how managers from John Lewis stores are helping to transform their local charity shops.
Fashion stylist Bay Garnett joins presenter Amy Lamé in the studio to discuss the magazine 'Cheap Date', which she co-edits, and how it intends to raise the profile of Britain's charity shops through adopting the techniques of the major fashion magazines. Taking direct inspiration from the glossy pages of the top flight fashion magazines and using their connections within the fashion world, the creators of 'Cheap Date' have produced a parody of their mainstream rivals featuring clothes found at charity shops around the country.
 Public donations account for over 90% of all good sold in charity shops but a radical new project from The Children's Society has hit on a source of designer clothing that could transform the way we think about charity fashion. Acquisitions Manager, Paul Tate, comes into the studio to describe how the society has generated its own brand of designer clothes called 'Subterfuge'. Every year thousands of pieces of counterfeit clothing are confiscated and destroyed by authorities. By saving the brand-new garments from the incinerator and re-branding them with the 'Subterfuge' label, The Children's Society is able to offer its customers designer clothes without harming the mainstream brands.
The job of removing the counterfeit branding and transforming the garments into 'Subterfuge' classics has to be performed in a secure environment to prevent the clothes finding their way back onto the black market, but once again the society has hit upon the perfect solution. By giving the work to some of the country's prisons they are able to give authorities the guarantee of security they require, and simultaneously provide meaningful employment to inmates. Now supplying many of the society's network of shops this groundbreaking project is helping to generate vital income for the society's work with children around the country. "The project's been running for about 5 years and it's safe to say we have raised £120,000 for The Children's Society," says Tate.
 Managers - such as Maria (pictured) - from the Sheffield branch of John Lewis are donating their time and skills to help local charity shops to compete with the major high street shops, as part of a pioneering new scheme. As professionals in the retail business, the John Lewis staff are able to advise volunteers in the charity shops on displaying stock, pricing and all other aspects of the retail trade.
Tracy Choi is one of Oxfam's many young volunteers, working in their shop in Covent Garden, Central London. Having graduated with a degree in Finance and Economics, Tracy began searching for a full-time job but as she waited for the right opportunity she decided to investigate volunteering opportunities in her area and eventually began working with Oxfam. Her experience of working for Oxfam has given her many useful skills that she would otherwise struggled to acquire in such a short period, helping them to keep accurate accounts of sales and regularly producing reports on the shop's performance.
"I'm gaining a lot of different skills and experiences that I might need to change from a lot of jobs in order to achieve all of that, but I'm achieving all those skills and experiences in one go and perhaps even just in a day. I'm learning to deal with people a lot better; I'm learning about pricing; about running a shop. Every time something happens you learn from other volunteers how they have dealt with that previously," says Tracy.
Charity Chic's resident style guru John Scott, from ITV’s 'This Morning', is back in the studio to round off this jam-packed show with some more stylish clothes to tempt the shoppers away from the high street shops. This week Scott has uncovered an original Ossie Clarke dress from the height of his popularity in the world of 60's fashion.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 03 March 2006 )
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