Mary Queen of Shops

Mary Portas' Westfield shop for Save the Children raised a record sum of £110,000.

Two months ago, a pop-up charity shop in Westfield London was not on anyone's radar. On June 4 2009, Save the Children opened the world's first shopping centre charity shop — Mary’s ‘Living and Giving shop’, with Mary Portas and Grazia, in the luxurious surroundings of the Village at Westfield London. Against a backdrop of the worst economic downturn in recent memory, and the country declaring a stop on spending, Mary Portas’ ‘Living & Giving Shop’ hit the £110,000 mark!

We smashed our target

The ambition was to raise £50,000 in three weeks. We smashed that target with a gargantuan amount of £110,000. Over 400 volunteers were involved from Save the Children, Grazia and Westfield London.

Many people just popped in to the shop and were unable to leave. We had stock from Oasis to Vivienne Westwood, from Mulberry to Karen Millen, and everything in between. Customers literally poured through our shop doors with every single one of them leaving with a smile on their face knowing they’d bought an individual one-off item at a good price in order to support a charity that saves children's lives.

The energy and buzz that the shop created was unprecedented. Celebrities such as Tara Palmer Tomkinson, Meg Matthews and Lauren Laverne also flocked to the shop, with some of them even lending a hand!

Record £110,000 raised

“This has to be a record. I am so overwhelmed by the success of Mary’s Living and Giving Shop,” said Jasmine Whitbread, CEO of Save the Children. “£110,000 is an unbelievable sum of money — far more than we dreamed.

Everyone involved has been amazing — designers who have donated clothes, people who have volunteered and of course the public who have shopped ‘till they drop! Mary and her team have been incredible.” “Save the Children staff across the globe are working flat out to stop the 10 million children who die under the age of five each year”, Whitbread continued.

“With this money we can save thousands of children's lives and give them the start in life that every child deserves. Saving a child's life can cost as little as £5; every T-shirt, handbag or designer dress bought has stopped children from dying.

I hope the public will keep donating wonderful things to our Save the Children shops across the country so we can keep saving children's lives.’

We are already planning the next 'Mary's Living and Giving Shop for Save the Children" in Edinburgh at the end of August. What this space for more details!

Shop on the high street

We've over 120 shops across the UK selling a mixture of new and donated goods.

We want to make our shops stand out from the competition on the high street and we need creative and energetic volunteers to help us.

Help support our shops by donating your good quality items to your local Save the Children store.

Watch this clip and see why your donations mean so much to children around the world.

 

Mary Portas with keen shoppers outside the Westfield shop.