I love a good charity shop. I tells you a fair bit about the neighbourhood. In Windsor, they are full of good clothes, partially worn, and trinkets that look enticingly as if they might be valuable. So when I spotted the North Devon Hospice, I had to go in and look around. The local story, for me, was the huge interest in books and of videos. For example, I picked up the video 'A Beautiful Mind' for about £3, and several childrens' books in the 50p-£1 price range.
Like many charity shops, the fabric of the building was shockingly dilapidated, which suggests that the building had
perhaps been gifted to North Devon Hospice, and they do not have the resources to maintain it. I guess that is the way with many charities, who see the choice between giving the money way and spending it on their own infrastructure as a moral one, with the charitable recipients taking priority. Either that, or the average North Devon Hospice volunteer is not adept at shinning up a ladder and applying a coat of paint to the woodwork.
But I digress if you are in this part of Devon, and you want to buy a book or video, for everyone's sake don't buy new until you have at least tried second-hand. read more