Does anyone know when charity shops will open?

[Destinysdaughter]

I know shops can open from Monday but wondering how it will work with charity shops? They won't have been receiving donations during lockdown so guess they will be inundated with them now and will then have to safely sort them before they can go on the shelves. And will the volunteers go back? Is there anyone who works in charity shops who can shed some light on this please?

I think there will be some problems with some charity shops. My quite local hospice one is not all that big, it's usually nicely set out inside, but can't see how they can do any social distancing in it. There are usually several volunteers,sorting all the things out in the back room, and all usually stand close together.

Ours is opening on Monday, reduced hours 10-2, four days a week. Only the manager plus two volunteers, one will be on the door allowing 2 people in at a time, the other on the till, all wearing masks. Masks are mandatory for all customers, as is hand sanitizer as they enter. They'll review the details every week.

No idea, but I passed one of our local ones last week and there were piles and piles of bin liners outside the door - so clearly some unhelpful dicks were dumping their donations, knowing perfectly well that the shop wasn't open.

A lot of charity shop staff are going to be in the vulnerable category or be shielding. Volunteering in a high street shop, coming into contact with the public for free is going to be out of the question for them. I used to volunteer in a very busy shop pre-children and I was the youngest there. The next youngest was the manager!

I work for a charity and our shop isn’t opening next week - in fact we have no official opening date yet. The shop is long and thin and our office is tiny. Can’t imagine how it’s going to work really 😳. The most enjoyable thing about going into a charity shop is browsing, and rifling through clothes, but that isn’t going to be happening I think.

I had an email earlier this week from my local charity shop, as I donated things there earlier this year. It’s a local charity; they said that two of the shops will open on Tuesday, with more to open two weeks later and others later. Shops will be open for only 3 days a week.

They also said that only some of the shops will be able to accept donations.

Donations will be quarantined for a number of days in a separate area.
Many volunteers are elderly so sadly won't be able to return so we need to encourage younger people (perhaps those who aren't in education or work at the moment ) to volunteer.
Customers will only be allowed to browse for a limited time

Non essential shops still closed here in Wales but none of our local charity shops are planning to open any time soon. Many staff fall into vulnerable or shielding category and they are concerned about being able to take in donations safely. In addition they don't think many will be shopping in them

Interested too, I've thrown so much good stuff in the bin these last few months. Hoping they will open soon, I really hate throwing things away!

Ours has posted on our local Facebook page, so it might be worth checking yours. They give specific instructions about how donations may be dropped off, and the way things will be run in the shop from now on. They also say that the donations will be placed in quarantine for several days. It is a well-known large charity so their other branches are probably doing much the same.

Our YMCA shop posted on local FB today that they’re opening on Monday. I am very pleased!

Their post doesn’t mention masks or distancing though. It’s a very large shop, in a former small supermarket (more furniture than anything else), so they might think it won’t be an issue.

Anyone who has had a spring clean should just hang onto their stuff, carefully bagged and ready to go, for a while longer.

I know my freegle group has started up again, if people are looking to get rid of stuff earlier.

Anything volunteer run is going to struggle for quite a while. The people able to give most time to volunteering are retired, mostly late 60s or later as the retirement age creeps up. Why would they mix with people when they don't have to?

Thanks for the replies. I understand why it will be difficult for volunteers, maybe all those students stuck at home could do it?