Michelle said: "It was about three years ago and I was just out shopping. I was looking at the jewellery section and the woman who worked there was just putting some new stuff out and among that was a necklace marked up for 10p. I remember I kept it in my bag for about three weeks because I just forgot about it. Then my mum saw me with it and she took a liking to it, we had it examined and it turned out to be 18 carat gold and worth about £300.

"Some people do look down their noses at charity shops and maybe they don't want their friends to know where they have been shopping, but the truth of it is you can pick up some real bargains."

Michelle began volunteering at the same YMCA shop where she found the necklace and is now store manager.

She said: "We get all sorts of goods in here and all sort of people. But one thing is always the same - everything is affordable. There are real bargains to be had, including some good quality clothing and even brands like Adidas, Umbro and Versace.

"It is possible to find antiques, although you have to know what you are looking for. We do have our regular bargain hunters, who come in every day, others less frequently. We are always getting new stock in and people like to keep an eye on it."

Claire Anderson, 32, who works at Propaganda public relations on Selby Road in Leeds, is never without a pair of shoes to wear, no matter what dress she chooses to put on – the reason being she has over 40 pairs, most of them acquired from charity shops.

Claire, of Shipley, said: "It all started after I came across one pair of shoes by accident in a charity shop. I was humming and harring about whether to get them or not, because they were second hand, but then when you consider you are only paying £3 for something, it puts things into perspective.

"I got them and found they had been looked after. They took me back to the days when I used to wear my mother's shoes, so there was a nostalgia value for me. I also realised that they meant a lot to someone somewhere and I was taking up the baton. After that, it became a bit of a hobby and now I am kind of known for my unusual vintage footwear. I never struggle to find a pair of shoes to go with an outfit, I've always got numerous options."

Among her star buys are pairs by Bally and Cara Bella.

She added: "I used to live in Hackney, London, and I sometimes wish now I'd discovered charity shops then as I bet there would have been some real finds."

There's no doubting that charity shops are popular among a certain kind of people but whether that has anything to do with 'class' in the traditional British sense is another matter. On the contrary, it seems more to do with pure and simple thrift. Why pay top whack for a box set of The Sopranos when you can trawl several charity shops and pick it up for £3? Why bother to buy the latest best-seller, when you know it will probably be gracing the shelves of a charity shop near you a few weeks later for 99p? And why spend your hard-earned cash on brand new shirts, shorts, jeans, baby toys, board games, prams, ovenware (the list is almost endless) when it's odds-on there might be something in your size for pocket change down the same high street?

Days out

Why indeed. In fact, there are people out there who have gone one step further and taken more than an occasional interest in charity shopping, booking days out to places like Blackpool and Scarborough just to tour the charity shops.

Volunteer Catherine Whelan, 69, of Armley, is one of those people.

The mother-of-11 said: "I love charity shops and I love finding new ones. I think it helps you out, because you get something you like for a bargain, but it's a charity shop, so it also helps other people out. I go all over the place to look at charity shops, places like Bridlington and Blackpool. I can poke around in them for hours."

She has bought a number of ornaments from charity shops over the years, some of which have sentimental value for her.

She said: "I got two lovely cockerels made from glass, which stand about six inches tall, some collectable piggy banks and Lurpak casts. I'm like a lot of people in that I like looking around and finding a bargain."

Abby Dix runs a website called All Our Hearts Content – www.blinkmedia. org/allourhearts content – which allows people to post their favourite finds not only from charity shops but bring and buy sales, car boot sales and so on.

She is the proud owner of a rare item any self-respecting Victorian lady would never be caught without.

She said: "I have picked up a few things I like over the years, most of them unusual, but perhaps the most unusual is a Victorian pantyhose and knicker repair kit.

"The website encourages people to tell us about their favourite charity shop finds. The Hearts Content website isn't just for charity shop stories, we are just as interested in the things people have got from jumble sales, flea markets, hand-me-downs and even stuff that's been skip-scavenged, although we draw the line at stolen goods.

"It's all about getting people involved. So far, we've had a brilliant response."



MICHELLE Sykes was browsing in the YMCA charity shop on the main shopping street in Armley when a necklace caught her eye. It was plain-looking, gold in colour and seemed in good condition. It was priced at 10p so she bought it. After that, it lived in her handbag, forgotten about. Several months later, she found out it was worth £300.

Michelle said: "It was about three years ago and I was just out shopping. I was looking at the jewellery section and the woman who worked there was just putting some new stuff out and among that was a necklace marked up for 10p. I remember I kept it in my bag for about three weeks because I just forgot about it. Then my mum saw me with it and she took a liking to it, we had it examined and it turned out to be 18 carat gold and worth about £300.

"Some people do look down their noses at charity shops and maybe they don't want their friends to know where they have been shopping, but the truth of it is you can pick up some real bargains."

Michelle began volunteering at the same YMCA shop where she found the necklace and is now store manager.

She said: "We get all sorts of goods in here and all sort of people. But one thing is always the same - everything is affordable. There are real bargains to be had, including some good quality clothing and even brands like Adidas, Umbro and Versace.

"It is possible to find antiques, although you have to know what you are looking for. We do have our regular bargain hunters, who come in every day, others less frequently. We are always getting new stock in and people like to keep an eye on it."

Claire Anderson, 32, who works at Propaganda public relations on Selby Road in Leeds, is never without a pair of shoes to wear, no matter what dress she chooses to put on – the reason being she has over 40 pairs, most of them acquired from charity shops.

Claire, of Shipley, said: "It all started after I came across one pair of shoes by accident in a charity shop. I was humming and harring about whether to get them or not, because they were second hand, but then when you consider you are only paying £3 for something, it puts things into perspective.

"I got them and found they had been looked after. They took me back to the days when I used to wear my mother's shoes, so there was a nostalgia value for me. I also realised that they meant a lot to someone somewhere and I was taking up the baton. After that, it became a bit of a hobby and now I am kind of known for my unusual vintage footwear. I never struggle to find a pair of shoes to go with an outfit, I've always got numerous options."

Among her star buys are pairs by Bally and Cara Bella.

She added: "I used to live in Hackney, London, and I sometimes wish now I'd discovered charity shops then as I bet there would have been some real finds."

There's no doubting that charity shops are popular among a certain kind of people but whether that has anything to do with 'class' in the traditional British sense is another matter. On the contrary, it seems more to do with pure and simple thrift. Why pay top whack for a box set of The Sopranos when you can trawl several charity shops and pick it up for £3? Why bother to buy the latest best-seller, when you know it will probably be gracing the shelves of a charity shop near you a few weeks later for 99p? And why spend your hard-earned cash on brand new shirts, shorts, jeans, baby toys, board games, prams, ovenware (the list is almost endless) when it's odds-on there might be something in your size for pocket change down the same high street?

Days out

Why indeed. In fact, there are people out there who have gone one step further and taken more than an occasional interest in charity shopping, booking days out to places like Blackpool and Scarborough just to tour the charity shops.

Volunteer Catherine Whelan, 69, of Armley, is one of those people.

The mother-of-11 said: "I love charity shops and I love finding new ones. I think it helps you out, because you get something you like for a bargain, but it's a charity shop, so it also helps other people out. I go all over the place to look at charity shops, places like Bridlington and Blackpool. I can poke around in them for hours."

She has bought a number of ornaments from charity shops over the years, some of which have sentimental value for her.

She said: "I got two lovely cockerels made from glass, which stand about six inches tall, some collectable piggy banks and Lurpak casts. I'm like a lot of people in that I like looking around and finding a bargain."

Abby Dix runs a website called All Our Hearts Content – www.blinkmedia. org/allourhearts content – which allows people to post their favourite finds not only from charity shops but bring and buy sales, car boot sales and so on.

She is the proud owner of a rare item any self-respecting Victorian lady would never be caught without.

She said: "I have picked up a few things I like over the years, most of them unusual, but perhaps the most unusual is a Victorian pantyhose and knicker repair kit.

"The website encourages people to tell us about their favourite charity shop finds. The Hearts Content website isn't just for charity shop stories, we are just as interested in the things people have got from jumble sales, flea markets, hand-me-downs and even stuff that's been skip-scavenged, although we draw the line at stolen goods.

"It's all about getting people involved. So far, we've had a brilliant response."

Factfile


Unusual finds in charity shops include an 1857 chromolithograph book from Paris, discovered at Oxfam in Huddersfield last year, worth £3,438. A 1966 World Cup final programme was discovered at another shop on the same street later that year.

The Association of Charity Shops has 300 member charities, operating 6,800 shops in the UK – www.charityshops.org.uk.

Entries for annual awards for the strangest charity shop donations included: a live grenade in Tyneside, gold tooth fillings in Muswell Hill, a voodoo doll in Norwich and a funeral urn complete with ashes.

The most unusual donation, however, had to be the skeleton of a Roman dog, donated to St Barnabas, Lincolnshire, unearthed at an archaeological dig in 1986 and thought to date from the 1st Century.