I have worked with Family Circle in the past and found them great…read more I worked as a nursery nurse and babysitter. Although you could get better pay elsewhere, it was good experience and a good way to get in to Nursery work. I was offered a job by the first nursery Family Circle sent me to! They always paid on time and any other staff I met from the agency were great girls who clearly loved working with children. I believe they also do a 'home help' type of service for the elderly - a lady on my street uses this and has told me in the past she usually has lovely girls come to help her. Overall I had a very positive experience with Family Circle.

This is another impressive Edinburgh charity shop. It's just round the corner from a large BHF…read morefurniture and electrical shop, and keeps things traditional. I primarily browsed the DVD section here, and was not disappointed. Charity shops are the ideal place for a great bargain. For example, whilst perusing the DVD shelves, I found 'Wanted' for the bargain price of £2.99. All of the stock on offer seemed of a good quality, and I was impressed with the selection of things on all fronts. As with all charity shops, you have to hunt around a bit, as they are not as meticulously organised as typical high street retailers. I may have to come back and do a more thorough check of their selection. Of course, the stock will change all the time, as is the case with charity shops. An unbelievable bargain is almost guaranteed.

I am a frequent visitor to this store. Its conveniently…read morelocated near Haymarket Station and the bus stops just outside (No.3,33,44,4,25.....) Inside it is quite roomy and what I like most is the book selection on the right side of the wall. It is massive. They are stocked in order and you can easily look by authors names. You can get old and new titled books, as well as DVDs and CDs. They also have a vast clothes collection and some children toys and games at the back. You can even find changing rooms and try on the garments in private. The staff is really friendly and the place is clean. Prices are fab and don't forget you support a Charity :-)

This particular branch of Barnardos is dedicated to books and as such has an amazing selection. On…read moresunny days there are usually boxes of books displayed outside to entice bookworms in and it certainly did the job for me. Unlike other charity shop, this one if very well categorised and organised and it makes it easy to browse for the type of books that you're into. I spotted a few German books which I was seriously considering buying so I can brush up on my grammar but that's just nowhere near as fun as the cookery books that I spied. There were tonnes of cookery books from quick meals, elaborate gourmet dining recipes, cake recipes and many more mouth watering recipes on offer. Prices are very reasonable considering what many of the books would have cost brand new and most of them are in excellent condition, plus it's for a great cause.

This Barnado's store is their book shop, selling a huge variety of books at very reasonable prices…read more- generally around £2-3 a book. The staff are generally friendly and helpful and often quite knowledgeable. The fiction section to the left has a wide selection of books both old and new - a great place to pick up that latest bestseller or an unknown book by your favourite author. The shop is sensibly laid out with sections for science fiction, crime, biography, travel, Scottish books and children's books as well as by subject area. A real gem of a charity shop, you could easily spend a good hour and a great deal of money in there!

We wandered through the graveyard (Kirkyard), spending 45 minutes exploring. The high point was…read moreAdam Smith's grave. Yet there were some cool stones - attaching pictures. he bulletin board at the entrance gives a map and brief explanation of these individuals.

I found this Kirkyard enchanting and with a lot of history. I loved seeing the points of interest…read morewithin the grounds like where Adam Smith is buried and I found the grounds very beautiful and peaceful to walk around, however my bubble soon burst when I came upon a couple of homeless people had pitched up a tent in the Kirkyard and another man urinating at the side of the church which to me was very disrespectful and gross and for that I am giving the Kirkyard 4 stars as I feel it's a lovely warm magical place but needs better patrolled to keep it that way.

Do not go there, very unprofessional and terrible attitude…read more As a very special treat I bought myself my first ever pair of designer shoes which I had saved up for. However as I am disabled and unsteady on my feet I took them to the cobblers to see if he could put a thin rubber sole on as the leather sole was too slippy for me to walk in (which I explained to him the situation I was in). I often have to get new shoes re-soled as I have difficulty walking so need a better grip. He said he didn't have anything suitable and was going on holiday so couldn't do the job. However he decided to to take my shoe to his sanding machine and took the sole off it without my permission, I was in shock as I could no longer return them and left with a pair of shoes that were too slippy for me to walk in. I was extremely upset that he had just made a decision for me, when I told him I could no longer return them his attitude was "well it's not my problem, what do you want me to do about it". I was disgusted, to say the least not even an apology, I have never had such a bad "I don't care attitude before.

He extended the life of my favourite boots by at least 2 years and at a VERY reasonable price. I'm…read moreabsolutely delighted by the results.

Efficient and friendly service. My saggy cushions replaced and sofa now as new. 10 year guarantee…read moreas well. Very pleased.

I came here to get some filling for some new pillowcases I bought. They had a selection of pillow…read morefillings, from harder ones to softer ones, and the guy was helpful enough to give me the small quantity I needed and at a reasonable price. It's nothing fancy inside or outside in any stretch of the imagination, but has bed fillings and mattress fillings as well and well gets the job done which is what you want form a shop like this. Plus if you are ever going to as adventurous as my flatmate to make a giant beanie then this is the place to get the filling.

It's the medicinal herb garden that is located on Abbey Strand. It was designed to look like the…read morehistorical gardens of Holyrood Abbey. It's a more recent addition to the Learning Center that was set up for public visitation by the Royal Collection Trust. It really gives the area more color and meaning. We passed through it on the way to the palace and the start of the Royal Mile from Calton Hill. It turned out to be a beautiful autumn day full of colorful falling leaves. The Physic Garden itself was so much nicer in person than in pictures. Although, I think the best time to visit is in the springtime. What's interesting is that this whole area in front of the palace gate was once a sanctuary for those in debt (to keep them from being imprisoned). Now, it's more of a sanctuary to city dwellers that heals the body & soul through nature.

This branch of Barnardos is so good that I always pop in when I am walking past. Located on the…read morebusy Gorgie Road, it sells your usual charity shop stock as well as furniture. The furniture here sells like hot cakes as the stock always seems to be displaying "Sold" tickets. The furniture can be a bit pricey for second hand, but some of it is in really great condition. I have no idea where it comes from. I like to think that rich people around Edinburgh get bored of their furniture very easily so donate it here. The non-furniture part of the store has a great book selection which is usually my reason for going in. There is a "classics" section which stocks authors such as Dickens, Jane Austin etc. They also sell textbooks which came in quite handy when I happened to pop by and they had my course text book for a fiver as opposed to £45 on Amazon. I don't really do charity shop clothes as I always find it is generally middle aged, plump women who donate and being neither of these things I don't find anything I like. This shop hasn't jumped on the vintage bandwagon yet, but I am sure this will come. I panicked the day before New Years Eve because I realised I didn't have champagne glasses for our party. Instead of paying £10 in Sainsburys I picked some up in here for 29p each. Bargain!

I don't think I've seen a charity shop with as much as Barnardo's on Gorgie Road. There are three…read moreparts to this shop - the normal store, the furniture section and a wedding section as well. I went in to the normal part of the store this morning, primarily to have a browse of their DVD section. I'm so often guilty of bypassing charity shops to find my bargains elsewhere. There's always the worry that you never quite know what you're buying in terms of quality. While this may be the case, you can't knock this shop for its range of stock. You may find that you have to hunt the DVD section for a while to find what you're after, as they didn't seem to be in any sort of order, but there was a good selection of older films right up to more recent ones as well. The shop has much else besides DVDs. There's a healthy collection of books that fill a large number of shelves, as well as clothes. I didn't have time to investigate the other two sections of the shop, but they too seem to be well-stocked. This shop probably does great business, and you can shop here with the knowledge that you're helping out a worthy cause.