Help the Aged

A stalwart of the old school, this shop isn’t just helping the aged but also selling on their wardrobes. However, wearable things are hiding in the thicket of Jaeger, just waiting for you. I found a belt in here from Oasis, of all the unlikely places, that I now wear as a daily staple. There’s also an unexpectedly good selection of blankets and quilts, which may seem like an odd buy from a charity shop but are all clean and new or nearly new. The only niggle is the lack of changing room space, but that is compensated for by the great book selection and bric-​à-​brac shelves, which in many places seem to be on the way out.
Help the Aged is soon to merge with Age Concern, which may affect this place — with any luck only the branding will change and the contents will remain the same. Either way, it’s worth the walk for a poke about in a proper charity shop with a traditional staff of lovely grandmamas (who aren’t afraid to chip in their two penn’orth about what you’re trying on!) and a fair few good buys amongst the ensembles of erstwhile Gentlemen of leisure.

Help the aged is one of a string of charity shops on London Road, and as such has a lot for us to compare it against. Personally, I rate this place above the others, as it has a wider range of bits and bobs to choose from, with a wall of china objects at the back of the store. There are plenty of LPs and books to have a flick through, with a few more items of interest than elsewhere and there is a little more variety in the clothes (by which I mean they have some mens clothing). Everything is — of course — cheaper than buying new, and your helping to make a difference to someone’s life by spending your hard earned cash here rather than just lining a big wig’s pockets.

There are quite a number of charity shops up and down London Road but Help The Aged has the best selection for books (British Heart Foundation comes a close second). They are handily arranged around a number of genres with specific sections and have a good choice of classic and modern literature. The books are really quite cheap too, around £1.50 for any sort of classics when I went in last. Of course there is the rest of the shop to scour, you could find a hidden treasure on any clothes rail, jewellery stand or vinyl box