Someone must've been fond of the YMCA song in Hove, because just when I was thinking there was only…read morea Hove YMCA on London Road, Brighton, I find out there are THREE of the blighters in two streets in Hove alone. There may even be more! Where the George Street store is your standard clothes charity shop, and the other Blatchington Road branch (see review) focused on furniture, this store is all about electrical products - from radios and TVs to fridges and heaters. If you're in the market for second-hand electrical products then be sure to check this place out, as they are slightly more reliable than other non-charity shops. You're also helping the YMCA out, so they can make more awesome pop videos with the Village People (who, coincidentally, seemed to be working at Lewes Bonfire Night this year!)

As well as all of the electrical products and other amazingly useful buys or just as easily,…read more ridiculously old fashioned and perhaps useless tat, Hove YMCA does what it's name suggests; Advise Youths. Monday to Friday Hove YMCA runs drop in sessions, giving much needed help on issues ranging from unemployment, and job hunting to sexual health and free pregnancy tests. These types of places are in my opinion the bed rock of a good society, so naturally I will give it 5 stars!

Emmaus is a charity whose purpose is to help homeless people and is located in the heart of…read morePortslade. When my husband and I decided to visit today, we were really in awe of this place. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and there is so much to see. The grounds appear to be within an old church (one of the buildings is simply called The Chapel) which makes for a lovely backdrop to this brilliant place. As you wander through the grounds and in to one of the buildings, you will be astounded by how much there is for sale. There are several rooms filled to the brim with furniture - and even better, the furniture is all of incredibly good quality. Here you will find lots of lovely sofas, tables, chairs, beds and much more - all for a very reasonable price indeed. I was really surprised at how good the quality of everything is as it's not necessarily what you might expect from a second-hand store. Alongside the shop, there is also a cafe. I didn't stop to try the food as I wasn't hungry at the time but I will certainly be back to try on another occasion. The food looked and smelled delicious and was so reasonably priced - £5.50 for an all-day fry-up! I will absolutely be visiting this place again and would very much encourage others to do so as well.

Emmaus is the kind of charity shop dreams are made of...well, my dreams, anyway! It's a big…read moresprawling place, which occupies two buildings- there are numerous rooms filled to the brim with bric-a-brac, furniture, kitchenware and more. If you need a chest of drawers, a bedside table or a desk, it's definitely worth visiting Emmaus to check out what they've got. They often have really lovely 30s and 40s pieces...a couple of times I've had to tear myself away from gorgeous art deco dressing tables, simply because I don't have the space. Prices are really reasonable here, a book shelf or a cabinet will cost somewhere in the region of £10-£25 depending on style and condition. The housewares section is really great too: you can pick up all sorts of kitchen appliances, vases, and chinaware for next to nothing. As is always the way with charity shops, sometimes there's nothing interesting, but sometimes you'll find an absolute gem. The book section is really great, you can often buy 3 books for £1, which is an absolute bargain! They also have a funny little broom cupboard full of paintings and prints...quite often they're not priced and prices are invented at the till, meaning it's quite possible you'll walk away with an absolute steal! Last time I was there I was charged £2 for a beautiful painting and a really cool plant pot! Not only is this a really great place to pick up a bargain, it is also a charity well worth supporting. Emmaus help homeless people to rebuild their lives, by providing work and a home in a supportive community.

I went to this charity shop for the first time today and boy, was I impressed! I so admire the…read moreprecision with which the shop is arranged. I realize I sound a little overzealous, but I am a girl who likes things to be in their place, especially when it comes to clothing. The shop is organized, uncluttered and unlike many secondhand shops, its enjoyable to browse the rails, as they aren't rammed full and everything doesn't fall of its hanger the second you touch it. There is an impressive wall of books: fiction, nonfiction, cook books, travel books, dictionaries and more. They also have a good collection of coats at the moment- I saw two Levi denim jackets, which are v. trendy at the mo and I also saw a great cosy sheep skin coat, which I definitely would have bought, had it been a little smaller. I'd say the collection of men's clothing is bigger, there are tons of jeans and an incredible amount of smart suit jackets! This is also a great place to pick up your Xmas cards, whilst supporting a local HIV/Aids charity.

A friendly greeting is a great way to get in my good books in any shop, let alone a charity shop…read morewith such an organised and easily manoeuvrable layout. Clothes, books, nic-nacs and bric-a-brac A wonderful charity and a great cause, it's a pillar of strength and a strong link of the community-I haven't seen such an extensive Gay and Lesbian book section in a bookshop or library, but the Beacon has quite a collection.

This place is simply amazing…read more Whilst most youth clubs will have a few footballs and maybe some computer games to keep the 'yoots' happy this place is state of the art. There's a room filled to the brim with G5 Apple Macs, with all the best gear for editing films with, such as the professional quality Final Cut Pro, and other amazing editing tools for music. There's a professional standard recording studio with state of the art equipment and sound booths. If you dont have the instruments, they are all here, with guitars, basses and drums to allow you to record the best music ever. The main hall is huge, and there are so many things to do here it is incredible. Supporting this main room are smaller rooms, where different activities such as Art lessons can take place. There is so much going on here, the best bet is to look at the website and just get yourself down here to experience it either as a Whtehawk resident, or as a volunteer on one of the many amazing projects run from here. Here's the website. http://www.crewclub.co.uk/

From the owner: The Crew Club specialises in work with young people from the ages of 7 to 25. This includes Youth…read moreWork, Play Work, 14 to 16 KS4 Support, 16+ Foundation Learning Courses, Music & Media Provision for Young People with Special Needs and Physical Disabilities and Holiday Activity Programmes.

Brighton Pride has now established itself as the UK's biggest free Pride event. (That's 'Lesbian,…read moreGay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride', for short). Around 150,000 come along every year for the main parade and party, which makes a considerable impact in this city of 300,000 residents. The festivities actually continue through the year with a Winter Pride event, and various individual happenings during the last week of July and the first week of August, including parties and fundraisers at individual clubs and bars, and even a Pride Dog Show - a sort of camp version of Crufts! But the main event is a parade through the streets of Brighton followed by a free festival in Preston Park, just north of the City Centre. The theme for this year's parade was 'Pride around the World', which allowed imaginations to run riot with all sorts of interesting (not to say, oddball) internationally-inspired outfits (and often pretty skimpy, at that). The Festival includes a number of club and party tents, a large 'market' area with some 50 stalls covering everything from stands selling leather 'acoutrements' to social societies and health groups. A number of statutory bodies (such as the City Council, Police, Ambulance and Health service) are also there, partly demonstrating their support, partly raising awareness of their services and partly using it as a recruitment event. There are also stalls selling (fairly pricey) food and a fairground, offering scary rides with the added bonus of tens of thouands of spectators to scream for. But most people just treat it as a huge social event, to meet friends and people-watch - there being plenty of interesting attire to admire, from the camply outrageous to the frankly weird (and lots of nicely and boringly ordinary folk, too, including plenty of families and friends as well as people from the LBGT community). It's now the UK's largest free Pride event, with the London and Manchester events either being smaller or requiring paid entry. (Though attendees are asked to give a donation to support the event, a proportion of which goes to charity). A nice touch is that dozens of businesses in Brighton decorate their buildings with rainbow-coloured Freedom Flags for the event. This year's (2008) event was slightly dampened by the best efforts of Blighty's weather, with a fine drizzle persisting for most the day, but that didn't stop some 150,000 people joining in the festivities. There are always a few downers: there are never enough loos, so you have to queue; the market area is always slightly haphazardly organised (finding anyone here is a nightmare!) and far too many people regard the ground itself as a litter bin. And yes, some of it is unbearably tacky. But, that aside, it's still an amazing event, and something worth celebrating.

Brighton Pride is always a great weekend and mainly always the first weekend in August, Its a…read morecelebration of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and people of Brighton and the rest of the country who wish to visit this great weekend. The whole weekend is packed of entertainment in bars and restaurants around the city, most of all the businesses in the city take part in this fun weekend. The saturday is the main day with the parade starting at 11am from the seafront which makes its way through Brighton towards Preston Park. The streets are full of spectators watching the parade, there are also some great pubs along the parade route, we watched it from the North Laine bar and the atmosphere was electric. Once the parade has finished everyone heads towards Preston Park where all the entertainment is. Its a huge park with so much to see and do, with a Dance Tent, Cabaret Tent, Main Stage with huge acts, this year there was Sam Bailey,Collabro,Katy B to name a few, there are also a few other stages and tents around and many stalls and fairground rides, it really is a great day and if you book tickets in advance they are usually around £9 each. After the park has finished St James Street in Brighton becomes a Street party, we did give it a miss this year as it was really busy and we was pretty whacked out from the park. On the sunday theres a huge street party again on St James Street with many bars opening out into the street, with many drag acts and Cabaret acts performing. Its a great atmosphere. One of my main tips though is to book as soon as they announce the dates for Brighton Pride, usually a year in advance so that youre not paying over the odds for a hotel as most places get booked up really quickly and they know how to charge! Buts its a super fun weekend!

Mind on St. James was the first charity shop I went to upon moving to Brighton. I bought a single…read moregreen coffee mug for about a pound. Step one: Move to new country. Step two: Ensure a means to morning cup of coffee. Clearly my priorities were in order. There's a decent selection of books - each £2 and I saw several classics on this most recent visit. Perhaps a good stop for English Lit majors. DVDs are £3, but there are only five of them at the moment. The home décor selection is also a bit slim - a few trinkets, dishes and a set of wine glasses for £5.50. Of course there's also clothing, accessories and shoes - more for women than men. There's not too much unique about this location, other than personal nostalgia.

Loved it! The woman helping me was friendly and got several things out of the window for me…read more I got a lot of gothic pieces here for very cheap, £15 for an amazing Lolita dress, and £4-6 for some jackets, because her neighbor was donating and I was so lucky to receive slashed prices on these amazing items!

The federation of disabled people are very brilliant peeps indeed. They provide an apic amount of…read moreservices for disabled people in Brighton and Hove from brilliant online resources such as a disabled city guide and online forum to training and support. The following is a short history from their website; 'The Brighton & Hove Federation of Disabled People was started in 1981 to provide a body that would promote the independence and dignity of disabled people making sure than when services were being planned and developed, disabled peoples views were heard. It is this ethos, which the Federation represents today. The Federation is run by disabled people and works closely with local organisations and service providers to advocate better transport, ensure that disabled people are invited to join committees and forums and look at ways for disabled people to be recognised as part of the community rather than being on the fringe. We provide training and support to all our volunteers and staff and always involve those who have actual experience of the issues we deal with. The Federation takes a positive approach to the removal of barriers for disabled people and looks more at what people can do as opposed to what they can't do.'

The Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project started as just one allotment, tended by a group…read moreof like-minded people. Over the past few years the project has expanded, and is now a nonprofit company, with the operation covering multiple plots. Located on a leafy bank behind the Moulsecoomb train station, the project benefits from the work of many volunteers, who get involved in all sorts of activities, including organic gardening, woodland gardening and even odd bits of building too! The project prides itself on its unusual approaches and innovative techniques- they strive to create a garden where different habitats and gardening styles can coexist harmoniously. What's wonderful about the Forest Garden, is that you truly feel a million miles away from the chaos and urban sprawl of Moulsecoomb and Brighton. You can step off the train straight into another green-fingered world! The project readily welcomes volunteers and they run 'no experience necessary' days, so no the inexperienced need not worry. You will receive seasonal veggies for your efforts! The Forest Garden work closely with the Alternative Centre for Education and pupils at risk of exclusion, to try and reduce antisocial behaviour and produce positive change. They also provide produce to low-income families and the elderly. This is a really inspiring community project, that is, in my opinion, too little known about!

Most people won't have much of a need to go to the Brighthelm Centre: mostly it offers conference…read morerooms and church services, and is otherwise quite quiet, apart from the small cafe in the entrance hall. However, I've found myself in the Brighthelm relatively frequently, mostly because it doubles as a theatre venue during the Festival Fringe. As a venue, it is one of the biggest and nicest in town, yet criminally undervalued and underused. The church hall itself, the space that is used as the theatre space, is humungous, seating 270 (!!) at a pinch, and that's not including the beautiful wooden stage space. The tech may be a bit old-fashioned, but it's all you need to help a space like this really come to life. As spaces go, I've found it to be incredibly versatile as well as cheap for the amount of seats it offers. Sure, it's not brilliantly well known, but it makes up for that in spades. If you haven't had a chance before, check out some of the theatre at this year's Festival Fringe: you really won't be disappointed by the space. It could do with more aggressive planning, programming and marketing, but that's not what this space is about. The Brighthelm Centre is first and foremost a community centre, and that's the way they like it: quiet and unobtrusive. I guess it's partly that that makes it so calming, and so inviting as a space to enjoy art. Book a ticket today!

From the owner: We are a unique city centre community and meeting space for hire…read more We have a lovely multi-purpose auditorium suitable for meetings, theatre productions, concerts and conferences. Other rooms across four floors are available for groups from 10 to 240 people. We can do catering on request. Our newly furbished cafe has fresh, home cooked food everyday from 8.30 -4.00.