Chorlton charity shop to reopen thanks to community support

We will reopen our Chorlton Charity shop on 17 October – closed since the outbreak of Covid-19 –  with a new vintage and retro theme following support received from community volunteers and  local celebrity Vicky Binns. The shop, located at 426 Wilbraham Road in Chorlton, has long been a community favourite, with money raised helping local older people age well.

During its temporary closure, we took the opportunity to freshen up the shop with the help of volunteer support from Pell Frischmann and Ecclesiastical Insurance. Members of Pell Frischmann’s Manchester Office volunteered their time to paint the entire shop in September. It had been some time since the shop had gotten a fresh coat of paint and the team from Pell Frischmann were only too happy to help.

With the walls prepped and fresh, long-time Age UK Manchester volunteers from Ecclesiastical Insurance painted a vintage and retro mural on the shop wall, highlighting the new theme of the shop. The shop will specialise in vintage clothing and accessories, retro furniture and bric-a-brac, vinyl and collectable ornaments and books.

Sue Rayment from Ecclesiastical Insurance said: “Our team are dedicated to supporting Age UK Manchester and we are passionate about everything we do to help them to continue their fantastic work supporting vulnerable elderly people in our local community. It gives us great pleasure to think we have helped to brighten the lives of the elderly people in their care.”  

Throughout Covid-19, we have continued to provide care and support to older people across the city. Whilst some services have had to switch from face to face and building based to telephone and community based, we have not suspended any services throughout the crisis. At a time when demand for our support has been greater than ever, we've actually expanded our offer to include Emergency Response support in the community.

Since lockdown began, we have, so far, distributed more than 4,000 emergency food parcels and grocery orders and made nearly 7,000 welfare and befriending calls to vulnerable older people as part of this Emergency Response Service.

Sally Dervan, Age UK Manchester Chief Executive said: “The money we will raise at the Chorlton Shop will stay in Manchester and directly benefit the lives of local older people, making services like our new Emergency Response Service possible. We thank the volunteers from Pell Frishmann and Ecclesiastical Insurance for supporting our efforts to raise funds at this incredibly challenging time. We appreciate their hard work and creativity to get our Chorlton shop back up and running. And we’re thrilled to have longtime supporter and past volunteer Vicky Binns on hand to officially reopen the shop!”

The former Coronation Street star, and Chorlton resident, will be on hand to reopen the shop at 12:30pm on Saturday, 17 October. Vicky said: “Having seen first-hand the invaluable work that Age UK Manchester does for its local community, I encourage you to come along, support us AND grab a bargain. A retro/vintage themed shop could not be more apt for Chorlton – it’s like chips and gravy - it just goes together.”

The reopening will be managed with Covid secure guidelines and safety measures in place. Numbers of customers will be limited in the shop and queueing outside will be managed to ensure social distancing. All staff and customers will be required to wear a face covering. The shop will have hand sanitizing stations as well as safety screens to ensure the safety of customers and staff.

To make a donation to the shop fitting in with its new vintage and retro theme, call 0161 817 2356 or email enquiries@ageukmanchester.org.uk  

To find out more about our other charity shops, click here.