I am the steam queen!

Reading our accounts (available here) you might wonder why we don't refocus all our energies on the income streams which have the highest return - legacies and community fundraising or the lottery? The charity shops on the other hand, whilst generating a healthy gross profit by the standards of many businesses, are a relatively costly way of raising money for charity.

This was certainly my question two years ago when I started working for Devon Air Ambulance. I very quickly came to understand that the value of our shops is not just in the income they generate (and benchmarked against stats from the Association of Charity Shops they generate a good return) and it was really brought home to me when I spent last Friday working in our Cowick Street branch.

My god I ached - it has taken me a week to blog this because I have been totally knackered ever since. Really, everything hurt.

You have to understand my normal working day involves a lot of sitting: sitting at a computer; sitting in meetings; sitting in my car driving over Devon's vast road network; all sorts of sitting. Very occasionally I get to stand up: stand up and walk to the meeting room to sit down; stand up and walk to the kettle to make coffee (caffeine please - more of this below); stand up to walk to the car and sit down; stand up and speak then sit down; stand up to go to the loo....you get the picture.

Now, the reason charity shops enjoy a healthy gross profit despite very reasonable prices is twofold: volunteers and donated goods. We are SOOOO lucky to have so many fabulous volunteers who are willing to give up their time to sort through bags of donations, tag them, steam them, price them, put them out in the shop, rotate the stock, recycle the unsaleable stuff (about 50% based on my experience last week - more below!) disposing of the unmentionables, which cost us money to get rid of. We are HUGELY indebted to everyone who makes the effort to not just chuck out what they no longer want but set it aside and donate it to charity.

As part of our job shadowing programme I was a volunteer for the day at Cowick Street and I had a fabulous day. The ONLY thing I regret is not taking my own coffee. I couldn't work out why I had a stonking headache until about 3pm when I discovered I'd been drinking decaf all day! Otherwise, it was a fantastic day.

I sorted, I tagged, I steamed (believe me - I steamed - ladies of a certain age should probably avoid this!), I even priced and twice I was let loose on the till. I met two fantastic volunteers who probably thought I didn't know my arse from my elbow - they were right! I met some customers, regulars and irregulars. I was supported by a great shop manager, Michelle. What I really appreciated though was just what an important role the shops play within their communities.

Like most charities, and businesses nowadays, we have a vision, mission & values statement. The shops embody two of our values brilliantly: they are a vital part of their communities and heavily dependent on the invaluable contribution of volunteers. What might not be apparent to someone new to the organisation is quite how hard these stars work - given they are almost all retired and we are talking physical work.

Thanks to all these wonderful people, as well as the great staff, the shops genuinely represent our roots within the community. They reflect our commitment to being part of the communities all over Devon and they also ensure we have a direct link to local people in their areas. They are a meeting point and a distribution point for volunteers and supporters. They are great fun - people come in to have a laugh and share gossip. They are also plugged into the recycling agenda: as Bob the Builder says, reduce, reuse, recyle.

My day was unremarkable on this front. I know from talking to other people that 'stock' donated to charity shops has included everything from valuable paintings to mummified cats. The worst I encountered was a pair of very well used/soiled cloth slippers with a touching handwritten note explaining that they had not been washed (obvious) but were washable: result - recyling bin. So many people think we have a secret laundry out back!

Based on my experience last week, 50% of what is donated to charity shops is unsaleable. Thankfully, half of this is recyclable - and STILL MAKES US MONEY! I wrote this loud because, unlike Mary Portas, we don't want people to stop sending us fabrics and shoes which are unsaleable because we get paid for recycling them.

Unfortunately, of the 50% unsaleable items, a significant proportion is also unrecyclable and therefore completely unsellable and we have to pay to have removed. Certain things we just cannot accept full stop (white goods, TV's, furniture without fire retardant tags). Unfortunately that doesn't stop people leaving them on the doorstep - more unfortunately, we then have to pay to dispose of them. Aarghh!

So, my overall impressions? I love our shops even more - they are truly community resources for Devon people, thanks to Devon people, run by and for Devon people. Exactly the same as the air ambulances they support. Heartening, funny, hard work and challenging.