All change and bargains in charity shop sector

The latest delivery to the St Vincent de Paul shop in Phibsborough, Dublin is a black plastic sack stuffed with men's shoes. One pair, brown and lined with sheepskin, is of particularly good quality so it is set apart from the less presentable specimens and a €7 label is carefully stuck on.

"We don't get many men's shoes in," says store manager Helen Kenny, working in the back of the shop where all the sorting is done. "These will probably walk out the door."

Christmas is a busy time for charity shops. It's a Saturday and a steady stream of people, young and old, are pushing through the doors of this large, bright shop in search of bargains. Competition is fierce, with up to six charity shops on the same stretch of road. Kenny has been working in the charity shop sector for 22 years and remembers when black plastic bags full of donations would be left on the shop floor for customers to sort through themselves.

'PEOPLE LOVED A good rummage," she says. "It's all much more organised now though. We sort out the bags in the back and anything of saleable quality we put on the shop shelves. The rest, whether it needs cleaning or is broken or torn is sent to . Everything is recycled. Nothing is dumped, nothing goes to waste."

People might remember this store as Fred's Fashions, the name more than 100 St Vincent de Paul charity shops around the country went under before they were rebranded last year. Fred's Fashions was named after the charity's founder, Frederick Ozanam, but now the shops are called simply Vincent's. The name isn't the only change, explains the charity's director of retail services, Dermot McGilloway.

"I think in the past we have been seen as quite a middle class, white organisation, so it's important to us, with the changes in Irish society, that we are as inclusive as possible," he says.

"We are focusing more on the mix in our customer base and encouraging people from different backgrounds to volunteer in the shops. We now have volunteers who are asylum seekers and refugees, which sends out a positive message. We also offer more staff training, so customers are better served."

THESE DAYS THE quality of donations - the shops in Dublin alone take in 30 tons of clothing each week - is both "better and worse" says McGilloway.

"People do donate more brands and labels, which is fantastic, but then we also get people donating bags with a couple of items of clothing on top but underneath you discover household waste, bags of nappies or rotting vegetables," he says. A more welcome and growing sector of donations are what staff call collectibles: stamp collections, model cars or antique jewellery. Experts are called in to value goods that might be worth a lot more than a few euro.

The window displays are also more sophisticated than in the past, with stylishly dressed mannequins and art on easels. It's the volunteers, though, who are the beating heart of these shops. People such as retired nun Sr Mary who is on the till, taking money and selling raffle tickets for the Christmas hamper.

"You feel like you are helping poorer people than yourself," she says. "I like chatting with the people who come. You get some real characters."

Mary Gillian and Madge Garland are firm friends and also volunteer with the charity's family services. "They call us the merry widows," laughs Gillian as she runs a sweeping brush around the shop.

Kay Taylor has been working here for two years, only taking time off when she suffered a stroke. "Working in the shop is my rehabilitation," she says. "There is a great atmosphere here. I shop here myself because at my age it's difficult to find styles to suit. The shops in town are full of teenage clothes. I'd advise all older people to go to charity shops."

"The staff are very friendly here," says 24-year-old Annetta Maria from Poland, trying on a pink poncho costing €4. She is dressed from head to toe in Vincent's gear. "I think this is a bigger shop than the others. It's cheaper too," she says.

Dublin woman Margaret Ryan comes into the shop every day. "I like buying clothes and toys for the grandchildren, I also like the idea of giving money to charity when you buy." The Vincent's stores had a turnover of just over €1 million last year.

During the lunchtime rush, a 12-year-old local boy comes in and buys almost all his Christmas shopping in one half-hour perusal of the store. He doesn't want to give his name in case his family read this and it spoils the surprise. He has found a bicycle helmet and protective pads for his little sister, a book for Mum and for Dad a perpetual calendar still in its box from the gift shop of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. "Eight euro the lot," says Helen Kenny, sizing up the goods.

Yet another satisfied customer.