By David Prendeville
Oxfam opened up a new charity shop on Fitzwilliam Street in Ringsend on Thursday 21st March. It warmly invites the local community to come and browse and buy, raising vital funds that will save and transform lives worldwide.
District retail manager Mark Sweeney said: “We are very excited about our new Oxfam shop in Ringsend, which is a great community, and we look forward to connecting people in the area on this new venture.”
Sweeney went on to ask for the local communities’ help on two fronts going forward: “Oxfam Ireland’s office is based in Ringsend so we know that the community is a welcoming and generous one. We are calling for donations of your clothes, books, DVDS, anything that you think people will love as much as you have done. To support the running of the shop we are asking people to give the gift of their time. Each Oxfam shop volunteer is given on-the-job training and the chance to learn new skills, develop existing talents and take on responsibility. Everyone is valued and appreciated. The range of tasks includes pricing donations, sorting stock, using the till, dressing the windows and customer service.”
Sweeney went on to emphasise the good being done by Oxfam: “Right now, Oxfam is supporting hundreds of thousands of people affected by Cyclone Idai in southern Africa, and millions of people affected by the conflicts in Yemen and Syria. When you buy at the Oxfam shop, you’re helping to provide life-saving support to communities who are caught up in humanitarian crises.”
Store manager Emma Currivan also adds what it’s been like since the store opened: “It’s been great at the moment, we’ve had a lot going on. For customers, you get great value and you get great labels. For us, it’s been unbelievable we’ve gotten so many donations in. The community has really taken us in which gives me the hope that we will do really, really well here. It’s great to be able to upcycle everything. We’re getting stuff that would otherwise just be put in the bin and that’s then damaging the environment. Here we can recycle them. Pre-loved clothes is what we work with, so it’s great.
Oxfam currently has 50 charity shops across the island of Ireland with more than 1,200 volunteers supporting the international agency’s work through these stores.
