BRIDES planning a wedding on a budget have the chance to bag a bargain and help a good cause at the same time.
A collection of designer bridal gowns and accessories has been donated to Clacton’s Salvation Army shop, in Jackson Road, by a local woman who recently closed her bridalwear business.
The brides’ and bridesmaids dresses and shoes were given by the woman in recognition for the help the organisation gave her late uncle.
Shop volunteer Cynthia Hursey said the Salvation Army had rescued the old soldier from the streets where he ended up as a down and out and an alcoholic after being demobbed at the end of the Second World War.
“He was traced, rehabilitated and spent the final years of his life in a comfortable Salvation Army residential home,” she added. “The lady said his family would always be grateful.”
The Salvation Army shop, in Jackson Road, has now been open six months, raising money to support the organisation’s community centre in Old Road and its outreach work for people in need.
It sells clothing, household and leisure items, but shop volunteers also hear many stories from customers who have been helped by the religious organisation, which often works with servicemen and women past and present.
Miss Hursey and the shop manager, Major Margaret Anderson, recently travelled to support British forces on exercise in Poland, running a 13-hour-a-day snack bar, tuck shop and a listening area.
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