Research indicates Colchester’s first charity shop opened in 1963.

Today, there are 22 in the central area of the town, a reflection on the changing social and retail characteristics over the past half a century.

It is estimated there are more than 500 volunteers who staff the charity shops. This is a significant commitment which enhances Colchester’s reputation of being a caring community.

The first charity shop I can identify is the Refugee Aid Shop which Benham’s Colchester Directory for 1963 lists as being at 19 St John’s Street. It is no longer there. This was one of several shops demolished and with the former bus station became the site of a multi-storey car park above Tesco’s initially and today Wilko’s.

It was there for about ten years because it is also listed in the 1973 directory. However, I have not been able to find out anything about it. I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has knowledge of the town’s first charity shop.

Colchester’s longest-established charity shop is Oxfam which has been in St John’s Street for 47 years – when it moved into number 33, almost opposite the Refugee Aid Shop. The previous occupier and also Number 34 was Radio Center – radio and television sales and services. In 1989, Oxfam also took over that premises and for the past 27 years has run a shop from the two units which are linked internally.

Colchester-based charities St Helena Hospice and housing organisation Emmaus have the most shops – each with four within a few minutes walking distance of each other.

Other shops are a mixture of charities. In the latter category are The Salvation Army, British Heart Foundation (two shops), Sense (for deaf-blind people), PDSA, The Dogs’ Trust, Age UK, Arthritis Research UK, and British Red Cross.

Other charity shops are for the Havens Hospice for children, Colchester Cat Rescue, Bridge Way which helps people find jobs and The Invicta Foundation for injured military personnel).

The RSPCA has charity shops at Prettygate and in Harwich Road, Colchester, Colchester Children’s Charity has two shops in Old Heath and St Helena Hospice has further shops in Magdalen Street and at Stanway.

The pattern of operation for most charity shops is similar usually with a paid manager. What is common to all is the dedicated volunteers without whom none of the shops could survive. A price cannot be put on their commitment, which may be just a couple of hours or right the way through to some who do the equivalent of an unpaid full working week.

Most of the stock is donated by the public – clothing, books, brick-a-brac. Some charity shops may have a limited range of new stock but the vast majority is donated second-hand items.

As Oxfam is Colchester’s oldest charity shop, let me briefly describe how it operates to raise money for this international relief organisation. It has a full-time paid manager, supported over the week by a team of 25 volunteers...more are needed!

Goods are donated by residents – with the addition of Fairtrade new products from Third World countries.

Operating costs are just 16p for every £1 of sales, creating a profit of 84p in the pound for the charity. Oxfam is currently supporting appeals in Syria, Yemen and Haiti. Clothing which is not sold is sent to Senegal.

Shops are a great income generator for the charities and that without such fundraising their work would become even more challenging and difficult.

Further to that favourable comment – along with praise for the public-spirited work of an army of volunteers – I do not share the view of those who suggest that charity shops are somehow an indication of a loss of the retail appeal of Colchester town centre. They are extremely popular...and I would rather have them than shops standing empty.

The days of organisations holding rummage sales to raise funds are long gone. Charity shops are a much more civilised approach.

They are a wonderful way of recycling good clothing and a wide range of other items for which owners no longer have a use or need but which are eagerly bought by shoppers who love to browse through the latest donated offerings.

Excluding banks and restaurants etc, there are around 400 retail establishments in central Colchester. The 22 charity shops are a small but important part of the mix.

SIR BOB RUSSELL