jo1973

We try to have a very fair policy on pricing. Mary's Living and Giving shops are by nature slightly more expensive as we only sell the better quality clothing: we send a large amount of donations to regular Save The Children shops if they are not suitable for MLAG. The ethos behind our stores is to sell those top quality donations that would be difficult to sell for a fair price in Save The Children. It's about getting a better price for your clothing for the charity and hopefully those who donate to the shop will be happier their garments are priced correctly and in keeping with their quality donations.

Hi there, I'm a volunteer at the shop you're discussing: Mary's Living and Giving on Lordship Lane. I'd just like to clear up a couple of points over which there seems to be some confusion. Firstly, volunteers NEVER take donations for themselves for free. This is completely against the charity's policy and does not occur in any of our shops. If a volunteer was found to be doing this, they would be reported to head office and their services would no longer be required. We give our time to raise money for this wonderful charity and take theft very seriously. If a volunteer wants to buy a donation, they are not allowed to price it themselves and they pay the FULL asking price. Secondly, we have gone through a period of refurbishment as our sorting and donations room had damp and was in desperate need of updating. I know that you would all want your loved items to be priced and sorted in an environment that is clean and in line with health and safety requirements. All of us volunteers were very upset to see the shop close for 6 weeks, but we understood it was for the long term good of the shop and health of our team. Thirdly, if when you donate items you would like to receive information about how much money your goods have raised, please say you would like to do 'Gift Aid'. Filling in this simple form gives you a unique number and we receive an extra 25% on every pound your item is sold for from the government. We will always ask if you would like to do 'Gift Aid' or show us your designated donating card and you will receive a letter which will tell you exactly how much money your goods have raised for the charity. Lastly, their is a pricing structure set in place for volunteers to follow but there will always be the odd occasion that a brand or designer is not recognised by a volunteer and slips through the net at the wrong price: this is something that is rare and we have regular staff training sessions to make sure we price as correctly and fairly as possible. I'd just like to end by saying that I hope none of you feel upset that sometimes a volunteer may purchase a donated item (paying the full price). It gives the charity the same amount of money as a member of the public paying for it, and I don't think that's an unfair approach to have for a charity trying to raise as much money as possible for a very worthy cause. We are always in need of new volunteers so we would love to hear from you if you can donate just 4 hours of your time each week. Come join us!

Hi everyone, As a volunteer of the shop mentioned here, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise if any of you are unhappy with your experience of Living & Giving. It is a really wonderful shop to work for and we all work very hard to provide quality products at great prices for our very valued customers. We strive to only sell items that fit within the MLAG ethos, but as I'm sure you will all understand, sometimes differences of opinion on price, label and quality can sometimes (and hopefully, rarely!) occur, especially when we are introducing new volunteers into the team. Great care is taken with training to make sure this is only transitory. We are EXTREMELY picky about what goes onto the shop floor, from the huge number of donations we have each week. Anything not suitable for MLAG goes straight to a Save The Children shop, so we are really taking care to make the shop look as amazing as possible. It would be very hard for us to have a dedicated area to vintage as the shop is small and we only actually receive truly vintage clothes sporadically. Any damaged, dirty or wrongfully priced items are swiftly dealt with and we are always happy to discuss any items you are not happy with. We're a very friendly bunch of people, so please don't be afraid to point things out to us! I personally was told about the mirror and we have rectified the error, so apologies to all who were upset by this. We also now have a fantastic NEW manager (after a long search) that is now making sure MLAG is a wonderful place for you all to donate and shop on Lordship Lane....I hope you will all continue to support the work we try and do to raise as much money as possible for the charity. Anyone is welcome to volunteer (only the managerial position is salaried) and you only need to give 4 hours of your time per week. Please feel free to pop by and pick up a form to join us and see for yourselves the work we do.