“With our strong knowledge of fashion brands and understanding of their worth we know how to price and sell them.”
With decades of experience working with some of the best known high-street brands, Adele Bambridge and Veronica Herranz know their treasure from their tat and they’re putting their fashion knowhow to profitable use volunteering for St Christopher’s.
Adele, who only recently retired after a career that saw her work as a director of Debenhams, and Veronica, whose CV includes names like Austin Reed and M&S, devised and are executing an effective e-commerce strategy for selling the best donations St Christopher’s receives.
Volunteering one day a week in the Streatham shop, friends Veronica, from Balham, and Adele, who lives in Clapham, are earning the hospice £1,000 a month selling middle to high end items via eBay.
“I still want to be in fashion,” says Veronica. “I also want to be supporting a charity that is close to my heart that helps people with palliative care. My mother has Alzheimer’s and three
members of my family died of cancer.”
It’s a similar story for Adele whose father died of dementia. A work colleague also died under the care of St Christopher’s recently.
While they both appreciate the greater flexibility of volunteering over working for money, both Adele and Veronica treat their role exactly as they did while in full-time paid employment – with the utmost professionalism.
Knowing where the proceeds of the sales they process goes is the motivation that drives them.
“Having seen palliative care in action you realise that everything we do here helps make it happen and for me that’s a strong personal connection,” adds Veronica.
On their designated volunteering day, Tuesday, the pair arrive and immediately go online to see how the 15-20 items they list each week are selling. As part of the pair’s e-commerce strategy, St Christopher’s network of 24 shops is primed to send them higher value, desirable or even unique items. “The reach of e-commerce is much broader,” says Veronica.
“We are selling to people all over the country and can demand a higher price than in store because we have a much wider reach. With our strong knowledge of fashion brands and understanding of their worth we know how to price and sell them.”
“Having seen palliative care in action you realise that everything we do here helps make it happen and for me that’s a strong personal connection.”
Recent hot items have included £300 limited edition Adidas sweatshirts, £200 Balenciaga shoes
and a pair of gold-plated, designer Japanese sunglasses.
Just as a high street fashion shop would move with the seasons, so Adele and Veronica have focused on beach, resort, tennis and festival trends for the last few weeks and months.
Using all their retail nous, Veronica and Adele work as effectively as they can in their limited time slot, selecting the items for sale, before photographing, listing and then pricing them.
“We really know how to maximise what we’ve got, and we know the kind of things people will like and what will sell through our years of experience with the industry, fabrics and labels,” says Veronica.
Once an item has sold online, the pair do their best to match commercial online retailers for speedy delivery. “We pick the item out of the carefully numbered box, we pack it and then we post it,” says Adele, who has created a detailed spreadsheet worthy of any blue-chip boardroom.
As if their small office at the back of Streatham shop wasn’t busy enough, with rails, boxes and computers, it also doubles as an occasional repair shop, as Adele and Veronica put their sewing skills to good work fixing belt loops or adding missing buttons to ensure items attract the best
possible price.
“We really know how to maximise what we’ve got.”
Both women say they can see the potential to really grow St Christopher’s online presence but know it will require more time and resources. For now, though they are both content with their efforts and are keen to encourage others to try volunteering in St Christopher’s stores.
“It’s great to think that we’ve raised £6,000 for the hospice so far this year, even if we do think about how much more we could do that if we could do a few more days. So many people like Veronica and I have years of experience, don’t want to be in full-time work anymore but do want to carry on contributing. Volunteering in one of the shops is an ideal way of keeping you ticking over and giving back,” reflects Adele.
To find out what’s currently on sale on our eBay and Depop, visit: stchristophers.org.uk/shops
:: This story was from our Autumn/Winter issue of Connect magazine. To read the full magazine, or to sign up to receive future editions, please click here.
You may also be interested in
The Future of Ageing
It’s eight years since dementia became the leading cause of death in the UK and, with its ageing population, that trend is only going to continue.
Martin’s story
How we helped Martin get back to Zagreb
“I don’t like that I have MND but I am happy with my life.”
“They make you feel like you are the only person there because they treat you as a person not a patient and let you know that you are important."
Emilia inspired to run the London Marathon in memory of her ‘Aunty’ Gerry
First-timer Emilia Deefholts is proof positive that being a novice is no barrier to smashing your marathon running and fundraising targets.
