Liverpool's Best Charity Shops
Have you noticed the 'Charity Shop Chic' that's all the rage on the streets of Liverpool? Well in the olden days you could actually buy it in real charity shops, for less than the price of a small Caribbean island. Whether you're an art student or just an actual tramp you can find treasures galore in the city's many charity shops. As well as equipping yourself with a new wardrobe and the complete works of Stephen King, you're actually helping those worse off than yourself because all the profits of your reckless spending go to charity. Hooray. Take that capitalism.
Oxfam
35-37 Bold Street, L1 4DN
(0151) 709 6739
www.oxfam.org.uk
A hulking leviathan in the middle of Bold Street, Oxfam is less a charity shop more a Second Hand Goods Experience. The staff here know their odds from their sods so don't expect too many bargains, stock is priced all too accurately, especially those first edition books and collectables. The books are actually arranged by genre and the vintage clothes are carefully grouped into styles - just like a real shop! There is no tat here, dump a black bag of assorted crap on them at your peril.
Number of Stephen King paperbacks - 1. But it was his most recent one. Rating 6/10
Cancer Research UK
106 South Road, Waterloo, L22 0ND
(0151) 949 0493
www.cancerresearchuk.org
Many charity shops have now cottoned on to the fact that bargain hunters stalk their rails looking for antiques and collectables so that they can appear on Antiques Roadshow and say '£2000? Well I never! I got in a charity shop for 50p!' in their smug, self-satisfied way. Cancer Research have responded by taking all their best stuff and guarding it near the till, labelled up with insanely inflated prices. Good for them Itchy says. And so perish all tyrants. They also have that great charity shop staple - the Shelf of Unrelated Wonders.
Number of Stephen King paperbacks - 5. Rating 7/10
Help The Aged
148-150 Allerton Road, L18 2DH
(0151) 733 0448
www.helptheaged.co.uk
Fantastically Dali-esque window displays adorn this shop - never have so many disparate objects been lumped together at one time. Perfect for those window shoppers who can't quite decide whether they want to buy cultured pearls or the Jeremy Clarkson autobiography. Inside is a Who's Who of Hollywood rejects - Corey Haim stars in The Lost Boys on VHS; Hulk Hogan stares out from a t-shirt proclaiming Hulkmania! etc. There are lots of heart-warming pictures of happy old people, convincing enough to make you take home that completed Jurassic Park sticker book.
Number of Stephen King paperbacks - 0! Must have sold out... Rating 5/10
20 West Way, Maghull, L31 0DQ
(0151) 527 1251
www.roycastle.org
Some of the stock here seems too good to be true. Beautifully packaged, brand new and in several colours... Wait just a minute! These are new items, bought in from wholesalers and on sale in every Roy Castle shop! Fair play to them for having a go though, they have the mandatory second hand books and clothes but have supplemented them with a gift range for those posher people who want to support charity shops but don't want to, you know, touch things that may have belonged to *shudder* the working classes.
Number of Stephen King paperbacks - 3. All Pet Sematary. Rating 4/10
Scope
9 Lord Street, L2 9SA
(0151) 236 4289
www.scope.org.uk
And we're back to that traditional charity shop layout much favoured before they all succumbed to 'branding' and 'shopper journeys'. Here at Scope the philosophy is 'Fling it all in a pile and cross your fingers'. You can have a good rummage here, and actually hold out some hope of finding something fantastically rare, or beautifully unique. It's like a treasure hunt with the only clues being the array of smells rising from the various rails. You can also turn pottery upside down to look at the marks like David Dickinson does. Lovely jubbly.
Number of Stephen King paperbacks - 2. But the rest of the fare more than makes up for it. Rating 8/10
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