Thousands of people have been keeping up to date with fascinating finds at a charity shop in Westbury.
Gracie White, charity shop manager at Dorothy House, took to social media site TikTok last year to highlight new donations on her shelves. Her first upload from the charity shop, which featured items such as a cow-print faux leather bag for £4.50 and a pair of Puma classics for £9.50, amassed 30,000 views.
Gracie, who lives in Westbury, said, “The TikTok videos started because we just have so much fun in the shop. We get so many nice donations that I can’t contain them. I started posting ‘my favourite things at the charity shop’ videos and couldn’t believe it when the first one got 30,000 views. People who live nowhere near here are watching these videos.
“We’ve had people come in and tell the volunteers, ‘Oh, I found out about this place on TikTok,’ which is really lovely. People have driven to Westbury just to visit or got friends to pick up items they’ve seen in a video. It’s amazing—I do a TikTok every week now.”
Gracie has also posted ‘day in the life’ videos showcasing her various duties as charity shop manager, which range from managing volunteers and manning the till to cleaning the shop floor at the end of a shift.
Gracie, whose sister Emily is supported by Dorothy House, says she’s noticed a shift in the type of charity shop customers in recent months. While older generations still pop in the most, more and more younger people are now passing through.
“Going to a charity shop is more of an activity now,” Gracie, 23, added. “It’s like a day out. Vintage clothing is really popular, and we’re seeing a lot more teenagers and young people coming in, which is really good.
“Our biggest seller at the moment is ladies’ clothing, followed by bric-a-brac, which could be anything from a plate to a small item of furniture. In terms of donations, what we really need now is menswear—it’s like gold dust. But we’re happy for any and all donations. If we have enough of an item here, we can transport it to another Dorothy House charity shop to be put on the shelves.
“It’s such great fun to work here. The volunteers are brilliant, and I’d like to think it’s a really welcoming space. For me, it feels like Christmas every day—you never know what you’re going to find on the shelves. I get a dopamine hit when I open a really good bag of donations and know the items will make Dorothy House a lot of money. We’re really so grateful for all the donations—without them, we wouldn’t have a shop.”
Search @graciemaywhite on TikTok to find videos from Westbury’s Dorothy House charity shop
