Charity membership

We provide leadership, guidance and a supportive community for charity retailers in the UK. Our 400+ members range from the largest national charities to locally based charities and hospices, running over 9000 shops between them. The membership year runs from 1 April to 31 March and the fees are as follows.

Leadership

• Effective lobbying on issues such as business rates, reuse and recycling, safeguarding and Gift Aid
• Industry-standard Gift Aid training and guidance in collaboration with HMRC
• Regular and exclusive market analysis and bench-marking, covering turnover, number of shops, all sales streams including online, Gift Aid conversion, rag prices, salaries, selling prices
• The leading sector event, the Charity Retail Conference and Awards
• Animations, consultation responses and campaign packs to use in your own lobbying activity

Guidance

• A library of best practice through our Primary Authority partnership with the Greater Manchester Regulatory Centre of Excellence
• A mentoring platform where you can register as a mentor or mentee, and be matched in a managed and guided process
• Access to a legal retainer service and security advice
• Resource downloads such as an audit template, how to choose a textile recycler, and other ‘how to’ guides

Support

• Your shops appear on the most popular page of our website – Find a Charity Shop – encouraging donors and volunteers to your shops
• Charity retail wellbeing – your staff and volunteers receive access to a wealth of self-help resources to support their emotional, physical, vocational and financial wellbeing needs
• Discounted recruitment advertising and property advertising
• Low cost health and safety induction guides and posters

Community

• A packed calendar of interest groups and members’ meetings – valuable networking and learning opportunities
• Regular news and events updates, keeping you in touch with the latest sector issues and opportunities
• Sharing of knowledge through our online forum, giving you access to the best charity retail brains in the country
• Case studies of innovation from across our membership
• A board of directors who are representative of our membership as a whole

Who can join?

• Registered charities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Exempt charities
• Charity subsidiary trading companies
• Charitable community benefit societies
• Overseas charities