As you all know, I absolutely love shopping in charity shops. From branded bargains to trinkets and treasures, I really enjoy searching the shelves and rails for thrifty finds. I especially like the fact that shopping in them directly and positively impacts charities and prevents items from going to landfill – win, win!
National Star opened their Gloucester charity shop in Hucclecote in October 2020 and since then I’ve enjoyed popping in when passing.
National Star provides specialist further education and residential services for people with disabilities and acquired brain injuries.
I was delighted to hear that they were opening a new store in Honeybourne Way, Cheltenham next to Waitrose and couldn’t wait to visit on opening day.
Spacious and well laid out, the new shop has been thoughtfully and carefully designed to make the best use of the space available and to allow shoppers a pleasant shopping experience.
The shop sells items in the following categories:
- Bric-a-brac including kitchen items
- Ladies clothes, shoes and accessories
- Jewellery
- Men’s clothes, shoes and accessories
- Children’s clothes
- Children’s toys
- Books
- Artwork
I loved looking around the shop and quickly found myself laden up with items to purchase.
I thought the children’s section was superb with girl’s and boy’s clothes carefully laid out for easy browsing and plenty of toys and books to choose from. With Christmas coming up, I took the opportunity to load up on stocking fillers (including a brand new Smiggle watch) and new outfits.
The ladies section was full of lovely, preloved clothing and I purchased some Fat Face items.
I’m delighted to say the rails were brimming with branded items from Joules to French Connection and even Karen Millen. So, if you are local to Gloucestershire and have lots of parties to attend this festive season then I’d definitely recommend looking here for your outfit.
In the men’s section I found a Superdry Gloucester Rugby shirt for just £4.95 – perfect for Thrifty Dadda!
I also found the pricing in the shop to be really reasonable. Having shopped in many charity shops over the years, I find that the better the price point, the more likely you are to purchase a bigger number of items. For the charity, this also means a higher turnover of stock and more pennies into their pot.
The National Star shops also stock a range of student-made ceramic and fused glassware items and handmade and printed cards. There were beautiful crafted decorations and cards which were perfect for Christmas.
The National Star charity shops in both Gloucester and Cheltenham are open Monday to Saturday 9am – 4:30pm so there’s plenty of time to browse for bargains.
Both shops also have free car parking, step free access and are spacious enough to push a pram in. You are also able to donate items too.
Will you be visiting the National Star Cheltenham store soon? Which charity shops are your favourite for finding bargains? Comment below, say hello and let me know!
As always, thank you so much for reading!
Love, Thrifty Mumma X
To take a virtual tour of the new National Star Cheltenham shop please visit: https://www.nationalstar.org/products-services-facilities/shop-with-us/charity-shops/
For more information about National Star please visit the dedicated website here: https://www.nationalstar.org/
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