Boatopia
Boatopia is our pay-as-you-feel community charity shop. Open daily, this volunteer led initiative offers good quality clothes and shoes for all ages in exchange for donations of clothes or money. Boatopia helps reduce waste and promotes environmental sustainability whilst offering an affordable solution for many families in our community.
We always accept donations of good quality items of clothing and shoes for all ages, seasons and occasions. Please note: we do not accept underwear, swimwear, helmets, home items such as blankets and towels etc.
Service users are asked to limit themselves to 5 items per week to ensure fair sharing of resources.
Boatopia was established in response to the needs identified by local residents. Run entirely by volunteers, it provides valuable support to many people in our community.Â
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Items that are always in high demand include:
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- Older children’s clothing (age 8+)
- Men’s clothing
- Good condition footwear (trainers/winter shoes/wellies)
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Clothing donations should be placed directly into the clothes bank located at the back of the centre. Where possible, please leave donations in bags to make handling easier.Â
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Volunteers sort through donations daily, as contributions arrive constantly. Good condition items are weighed and added to the rails with soiled or damaged items being placed in the textile recycling bank in our car park.Â
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Anyone is welcome to take items, but we kindly ask that individuals limit themselves to five items per week to ensure fair access across the community. We also encourage service users to contribute cash donations via collection tins located on the walls or at the café counter. This is on a pay-as-you-feel basis.
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We are always in need of volunteers to keep Boatopia running. If you would like to help, visit the Volunteer page to get in touch.