Second hand at Sue Ryder - Clodagh’s charity shop adventures continue

My second hand shopping sprees have been a huge success over the past few weeks and they’ve shown me the immense appetite that people have for quality pre-loved clothes here in Mullingar.

For my next sustainable shopping adventure, I popped into the Sue Ryder charity shop on Austin Friars Street.

Like so many of the stores in the town, it was well organised.

The clothes were clean and colour co-ordinated for the most part and there was a great selection of women's clothes and accessories, household items, books and children's toys.

Ann McDonagh has worked at the charity shop for over ten years and along with five other volunteers, she works very hard to maintain the store.

She said: “We have a lot of people donating at the moment, which is great. We get in a bunch of good clothes that we organise, clean and display for the customers.”

I strolled around the store in search of an outfit and found a long rail of dresses, all colours and sizes, in perfect condition and half price.

Sue Ryder are encouraging people to shop their summer collection and so they have marked most summerwear as half price.

I went through the clothes with a fine tooth comb and I found three very different, but very nice dresses.

First was a midi length black and white polka-dot dress with long sleeves and a flowy bottom.

It was originally from Boohoo.com and was priced at just €5, a definite bargain.

The second dress was a same length but tight red dress that had short puff style sleeves and buttons down the entire centre of the dress.

It was slightly ruched and had a square type neck, absolutely stunning and perfect for summer.

In all my time reporting on my charity shop antics, I’ve never been as tempted to buy a dress more than I was with this one but it remains in the Sue Ryder shop so you can snap it up for yourself.

The next dress I liked was a thin strapped, short denim zip up dress originally from Quiz.

It was tight fitting but would be perfect for a summer night out and could be worn with a t-shirt under it or on its own.

For the quality and the timelessness of this dress €8 seemed like a steal.

During my visit to Sue Ryder I noticed that there was a great selection of plus size clothing for women available which I thought was brilliant and very inclusive.

Ann said: “We have a section that is size 18 and upwards which is very popular.

“I think in boutiques, those sizes can be very expensive and limited so it's good to have them available here.”

It is important to note that charity shops across the town have a variety of clothes being donated every day and so to have a railing of plus size clothes here is a great addition to this store.

I continued on my search and found a vibrant green top originally from Topshop that was marked at €6.50.

It was comfortable and light and would be perfect for a date night paired with blue or black jeans and some heels.

Tuesday morning was a busy time at Sue Ryder with dozens of people coming in and out of the shop during the time that I was there.

Ann was joined by shop volunteer Martina McEvoy who said that every morning is busy in the shop.

They said that they can always depend on the regular customers to drop in.

Ann said: “We have our regulars that come in for a chat and a browse, everyone loves to browse and we think it's great to have them drop in all the time.”

I was also curious to find out if many young people were frequenting the charity shop in search of a bargain or in efforts to become more sustainable.

Ann said: “I have noticed more young people coming in and they are regular customers now.

“They are interested in vintage and old style clothes and so pop in every week to have a look around.

“We have seen an increase in these customers since covid for sure and I think that's because of the growing awareness and promotion of second hand buying through the media.

“Just to mention something that's a little closer to home too. The ladies day at Kilbeggan races were very good in promoting sustainable fashion with many of the guests wearing pre-owned outfits to the event.”

It is so positive to hear that charity shops in Mullingar are noticing an increase in young customers because of their interest in sustainable fashion.

It’s becoming clear that attitudes towards charity shops are changing from the old ‘messy and cheap’ to unique and exciting.

During my visit a customer in the shop kindly spoke to me and said that she is a regular visitor of the charity shops around Athlone, Longford and Mullingar.

She said that there is no comparison to the charity shops here in Mullingar.

She gave credit to the people of the town for their donations as the standard of clothes displayed are “second to none”.

The Sue Ryder charity shop showcases a great collection of womens clothes, shoes and accessories.

It has some home gym equipment, lots of books, children's toys and pretty jewellery too.

From time to time the charity shop gets school uniforms donated which may be helpful to some parents coming into this new school year.

Ann encourages anyone looking to snap up a school uniform to pop in regularly.