V Day Is Here: Mary Portas And Your Local Charity Shop Need You

Running until the end of May, V-Day is the latest initiative from the rather lovely (and equally scary) retail expert Mary Portas to get us all doing our bit to transform charity shops across the UK, following the success of her Living and Giving shop chain concept.

Designed to inspire us all to give something back the initiative differs from the traditional idea of structured, time fixed volunteering, instead allowing you to do it on a more relaxed and flexible basis where according to Save The Children:

“You might help to find treasures amongst the donations. You could be using your skills to manage other volunteers or putting your creativity to the test by designing eye-catching window displays”

And on top of getting a real high by giving something back you could also get a qualification out of it as Save The Children, the charity that Portas has been working with, are offering fully funded NVQS if you’re able to give a certain amount of time a month.

You can find out more about the V Day campaign set up by Mary Portas at the Save The Children website and see the concept in action in Mary, Queen of Charity Shops: Revisited which is available on BBC iPlayer until 10pm May 3.