Some lucky ladies of Woodford Green attended a special event at the ‘Sue Ryder Care’ charity shop on the 28th of October. 

 

‘Ladies Day’ is an exclusive designer day wear day held at Sue Ryder Care. The store is transformed from a regular charity shop into an up market boutique, second hand books are replaced for the day with designer shoes and accessories. Brick-a-brack is also moved out of sight and it its place appear classy coats and jackets. Store Manager Minette Wise said “I noticed the amount of quality stock we were receiving and I thought a ladies day would be a good opportunity to promote Sue Ryder and encourage sales.” The first day was four years ago “it was a success from the start and it’s got bigger and bigger each year”.

 

On the only day of the week in which the shop is usually shut, it opens to sell beautiful garments collected over the year which extremely generous locals have kindly donated to the shop.  I am convinced that some of these items must have been given away by mistake, with the big designer names in fashion featuring heavily, including D&G, Gucci and Louis Vuitton!

 

The day began with a ticket-holder only gathering in the shop, with a glass of bubbly and a raffle to charge up the excitement. It was a tense few minutes as the customers waited, pretending to be happily mingling, when really they were eyeing up everything they could grab before someone else got their hands on it! This may be ladies day, but that didn’t mean these ladies were going to act like ladies; they were ruthless. As soon as the clock hit 11 the covers concealing all the clothes were pulled off and the madness began.

 

There were still plenty of designer bargains to be found when the store opened up to the general public at 1 o’clock. Overall the day was a great success as predicted. Everyone went away happy, the customers with their brilliant bargains and the exhausted staff and volunteers who could see that their effort had once again paid off.

 

 

Sue Ryder Care is a really worthwhile charity - it supports people with complex needs and life-threatening illnesses across the UK. The charity also supports people living with conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, dementia and stroke at specialist care centres.

 

So be sure you don’t miss out on ladies day next year – enhance your wardrobe and help a really excellent cause at the same time.