Skiddle volunteers at The Children’s Society charity in Chorley

Skiddle’s Lannah from the customer support team took a Make A Difference (MAD) day, a day that allows Skiddle staff to work with a charity of their choice to raise money for the causes closest to their hearts. She chose to work with The Children’s Society, a charity that supports young people through their most serious life challenges. Here’s how it went…

On Wednesday 20th March, I volunteered for my MAD day at The Children’s Society charity in Chorley. It’s a charity shop that sells all sorts, from homewares and toys to clothing and jewellery.

When I arrived at the shop, I was introduced to all the members of staff, most of whom were volunteers too. I was given the option to work upstairs, sorting through donated items, or downstairs, working in the actual shop itself, serving customers. As I've had plenty of experience in the past with customer service, I decided to do something different and sort through the donated items.

Photo: The Children's Society / Facebook.com

I met the team for the day and started my tasks. I was provided with bags of items that I sorted through and analysed to see if the items were sellable. I had to check for any marks, any broken or missing pieces, and if the item was suitable to sell. If the item was suitable, I attached a label but left the pricing to the experts. This activity sounds tedious, but it was honestly quite fun seeing what type of item you’re going to get next. Some people would donate brand-new designer items, whereas other people would donate VHSes from decades ago. You do find some absolute gems.

The workspace was really social and there were plenty of things to talk about, especially with the interesting items that are coming through constantly. Everyone there was so nice and told me stories about customers and donated items. I’ll keep those stories to myself in case anyone wants to volunteer here and find out for themselves!

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Header image credit: The Children's Society / Facebook.com