The British Heart Foundation is a charity that is close to my heart (excuse the pun), so it was great to head back to their Dorking charity shop to help out again this Christmas as part of Jellybean’s 12 days of Giving. Liz who runs the show and her team of volunteers were as welcoming as ever and I was happy to help out with whatever needed doing. The big change from last year was the number of volunteers, which meant that whereas last year there was masses to do, this year I arrived to see a back room which was very much in order with only a few bags and boxes to unpack. My first task was to head to the shop floor to refresh the shoe and bag display, taking off all the stock that hadn’t sold, adding new shoes and bags and re-merchandising the display to help attract shoppers (with a bit of light dusting thrown in for good measure).

Then it was on to tagging up and steaming ladies and menswear, wielding the tagging gun and professional steamer with care to ensure I didn’t pierce or steam any part of me, I managed to fly through the stock and soon Liz was on the case to price it up and off it went onto the shop floor. With a quick stop for lunch and a cuppa it was time to tackle the boxes kindly donated by Dennys the local foodservice workwear company. With chefs jackets and waiting staff waistcoats, jackets and trousers, Dorking BHF shop is certainly the place to head if you’re opening a restaurant! In fact they flew off the racks, as no sooner were the waistcoats out we had sold two and a jacket – result!

The shop was buzzing throughout the day with Dorking residents looking for Christmas presents and stocking up on cards and as each headed to the till they were offer the chance to enter the BHF raffle to win a Tesco voucher for £100! Unsurprisingly the tickets sold well all helping to raise money for this great cause. Charity shops up and down the country are an important revenue driver for all sorts of charities and are predominately kept going by those who give their time to help. Every penny counts, as The British Heart foundation aims to ensure that at least 70p in every £1 raised or donated is spent on the life-saving research they fund, while the rest is invested to grow their income. While Coronary Heart Disease remains the number 1 killer in the UK there is still so much to do, so it’s never been more important to help find a cure for heart disease. To find out more about how you can help visit www.bhf.org.uk