Staff at a charity shop have shared their astonishment after receiving 400 bags of donations from one person, with contents estimated to be worth “tens of thousands”.
The British Heart Foundation in Largs, North Ayrshire in Scotland, recently received the immense donation, which consists of designer clothes and accessories.
The items in the donation, the majority of which still have tags attached, came from the family of a local woman who passed away after suffering a heart attack.
The family, who requested to remain anonymous, received a visit from the charity shop‘s branch manager, Glynnis Whannel, who helped them place the donated items in bags.
According to Ms Whannel, it may be the largest donation the Largs store has ever received.
“It’s a lady who died and her husband contacted us and asked if we wanted the donation,” the charity shop worker said.
“There’s a whole lot of dresses, then there’s skirts, blouses, shoes and handbags that match the dresses.
“She’s also given us a lot of bric-a-brac – we’re getting a lot of books and kitchen stuff.”
Ms Whannel described the quality of some of the donated garments as “incredible”.
“The Largs shop hasn’t seen this much before, not this quantity or this quality,” she said.
“The quality is incredible – 99 per cent of it’s still got tags on, and most of the ones that don’t have tags on are pretty much brand new.
“It must be worth tens of thousands. It’s modern stuff.”
Ms Whannel expressed her gratitude towards the family for their huge donation.
1/8 Nearly 1,000 people slept in Times Square on Saturday night.
The demonstrators were part of the World Sleep Out, which saw events in 52 cities over the weekend.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
2/8 The World Sleep Out raises funds for charity.
As demonstrators slept in sleeping bags around the world, the charity group worked to raise its goal of $50m (£38m) in funds to combat homelessness.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
3/8 Participants sprawled out on cardboard and yoga mats.
“I’m nervous about the rats,” Jeanette Guzman, who came to the sleep out from Queens with her entire family, told The Independent. “But we want to feel what it’s like, and what homeless people go through sleeping on the streets … and also to raise funds.”
Getty Images for The World’s Big
4/8 Will Smith met with participants and performed in Times Square.
The actor spoke about his film, The Pursuit of Happiness, and performed the hit theme song from his TV series, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
5/8 New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also attended the sleep out.
“I’ll tell you what: if you look around New York City, there are loads and loads of vacant luxury apartments that we didn’t need … while there are 60,000 people homeless”, said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who was in attendance at the event and spoke to the crowd about housing being a human right.
Getty Images for The World’s Big
6/8 Josh Littlejohn said the city’s “can do” spirit helped the event come to life.
“To my great surprise and real delight, they signed off on us closing down the entire stretch of Times Square”, he said. “It’s kind of one of those things that’s been happening a lot with this campaign, very serendipitous.”
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
7/8 Participants came from all over to help raise funds.
Joshua Mazediak-Amey, who was from the UK and with a group of interns at the United Nations attending the Times Square event, told The Independent: “I believe it’s important that those who work for the UN show the fact that we’re committed to actually getting on the ground and being with people … that we are willing to come and be a part of things when they’re sort of on-the-ground movements like this opportunity tonight.”
Getty Images for The World’s Big
8/8 The group told The Independent nearly 1,000 people slept in Times Square on Saturday night.
The World Sleep Out aims to raise $50m (£38m) in donations for charities including the Malala Fund, the Institute of Global Homelessness and more. Mr Littlejohn has also established a new charity called the World’s Big Sleep Out Trust. All of the donations raised in the US as part of the trust would be managed by UNICEF USA.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
1/8 Nearly 1,000 people slept in Times Square on Saturday night.
The demonstrators were part of the World Sleep Out, which saw events in 52 cities over the weekend.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
2/8 The World Sleep Out raises funds for charity.
As demonstrators slept in sleeping bags around the world, the charity group worked to raise its goal of $50m (£38m) in funds to combat homelessness.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
3/8 Participants sprawled out on cardboard and yoga mats.
“I’m nervous about the rats,” Jeanette Guzman, who came to the sleep out from Queens with her entire family, told The Independent. “But we want to feel what it’s like, and what homeless people go through sleeping on the streets … and also to raise funds.”
Getty Images for The World’s Big
4/8 Will Smith met with participants and performed in Times Square.
The actor spoke about his film, The Pursuit of Happiness, and performed the hit theme song from his TV series, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
5/8 New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also attended the sleep out.
“I’ll tell you what: if you look around New York City, there are loads and loads of vacant luxury apartments that we didn’t need … while there are 60,000 people homeless”, said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who was in attendance at the event and spoke to the crowd about housing being a human right.
Getty Images for The World’s Big
6/8 Josh Littlejohn said the city’s “can do” spirit helped the event come to life.
“To my great surprise and real delight, they signed off on us closing down the entire stretch of Times Square”, he said. “It’s kind of one of those things that’s been happening a lot with this campaign, very serendipitous.”
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
7/8 Participants came from all over to help raise funds.
Joshua Mazediak-Amey, who was from the UK and with a group of interns at the United Nations attending the Times Square event, told The Independent: “I believe it’s important that those who work for the UN show the fact that we’re committed to actually getting on the ground and being with people … that we are willing to come and be a part of things when they’re sort of on-the-ground movements like this opportunity tonight.”
Getty Images for The World’s Big
8/8 The group told The Independent nearly 1,000 people slept in Times Square on Saturday night.
The World Sleep Out aims to raise $50m (£38m) in donations for charities including the Malala Fund, the Institute of Global Homelessness and more. Mr Littlejohn has also established a new charity called the World’s Big Sleep Out Trust. All of the donations raised in the US as part of the trust would be managed by UNICEF USA.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
“We’re forever grateful – it goes towards research. It’s just incredible a donation,” she stated.
“I can’t believe there are so many people that can be so kind. It’s been tough for the family, but I’m also appreciative of what they’ve done.”
James Jopling, head of BHF Scotland, explained that the organisation’s research “is only made possible thanks to generous donations like this”, adding that BHF Scotland is “very grateful”.
“Heart and circulatory diseases claim the lives of nearly three in 10 of us in Scotland, and there are around 700,000 people living with these conditions every day, so we still need to do more,” Mr Jopling said.
“Wonderful donations to our shops like this enable our vital work to continue and we cannot thank the donors enough.”