Donating to Charity Shops
Alexia tells us how she supports Bath Cats & Dogs Home with clothes donations
Volunteering, Trading
Our retail volunteers are a vital part of our charity shop operations. Each volunteer brings their own interests, experience and unique skills to the team, with the funds raised from our four shops directly contributing to the wellbeing of the cats and dogs in our care.
One of our most dedicated and long-standing retail volunteers is, Len Liechti, who has been an invaluable volunteer at Bath Cats and Dogs Home since the 1990’s. Len started his relationship with the charity in the mid-1970s when he began adopting pets from our rehoming centre and has since adopted five dogs and a cat. He currently has Ziggy, a 4-year-old Patterdale terrier who he adopted from us in 2021.
After retiring from his job as a Laboratory Practitioner at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Len has spent many years working as a volunteer in our shops or at our Claverton rehoming centre. He now volunteers two days per week in our George Street charity shop in Bath where he helps customers, takes payments at the till, encourages donors to sign up for Gift Aid, re-fills the shelves and rails and helps to sort donations in the stock room. His meticulous attention to detail ensures that all donations are well organised and available for sale in a timely manner.
Len also goes above and beyond and turns his hand to any maintenance jobs that need doing. For many years he has also been responsible for PAT testing electrical items for our four shops in Bath, Frome and Trowbridge, his expertise means we can safely sell these items, significantly contributing to our fundraising efforts.
What do you enjoy about volunteering?
When asked about what he enjoys about his volunteer role, Len said: “I enjoy the variety of volunteering activities I do for the charity, and it has certainly helped keep me busy since I retired. This is an exciting time as we’ve just opened a second shop floor for menswear, books, CDs and Bric-a-Brac in the George Street shop. This gives us more space to display donated items, and it is attracting a lot of interest from customers.”
He continued; “I like talking to and helping customers and I am always pleased when I can sign up a donor to Gift Aid, meet an animal lover or someone brings their dog into the store. We always make sure we have plenty of treats and water available for canine companions.”
Always tinkering!
Len often takes home guitars, clocks, furniture, and ornaments to repair and these repaired items can then be sold for higher prices in our shops or our eBay shop, significantly boosting our revenue. Len has also generously donated countless personal items, including musical instruments, books, CDs, and electrical goods, further enriching our inventory and supporting our mission.
Len is happy to encourage other people to consider becoming a retail volunteer for the charity: “I would definitely encourage people of any age to consider volunteering in one of our shops, even if they only have a few hours a week to spare.
It is a great way to give something back, support an animal charity, meet people and learn new skills. It’s also a very flexible role which can easily fit around your lifestyle. It might suit you well if you like talking to people and are open to trying new things.”
All our retail volunteers contribute directly or indirectly to supporting our cause through their hard work in the shops, our office or our van and keep us all entertained with their positive attitude and friendly natures. Our shop volunteers support our staff to create inviting spaces, where customers feel welcome to browse at their own pace, chat about their day and show off their bargains!
Thank you to all the volunteers who support our retail work, in the shops, on the van and behind the scenes in the office.
Could you spare a few hours a week and join our retail volunteer team? If so, please start with the short volunteering form on our website.
