Mind

If you’re a student, charity shops are as crucial to your continued survival as Pro-​plus and takeaway pizza. Not only do they offer cheap books so you can save your loan money for precious, life-​giving Strongbow, they are also havens of style; places where you can spend thirty minutes and £5 throwing together an outfit that’s uniquely you. For people away from home for the first time, that luxury can be a vital part of discovering and creating (or recreating) who you are.
However, luckily for us no-​longer-​student folk, all those unwashed tax-​dodgers (ha. That really is fun to say) tend to stay down in the Cathays/​Roath area. This leaves all the wonderful Canton shops to us real people who are awake before 4pm on normal days (yeah! Take that, students!). And out of these shops, MIND is one of the better ones.
Offering the usual charity shop fare; clothes, books, DVDs, random cutlery, MIND couples this with bargains and deals that shame other charity shops. And also, the customers. There’s something indecent about buying a shirt for £1 in a charity shop; it feels vaguely like stealing.

Thank you Cowbridge Road East, for your plethora of feel-​good shopping haunts. Not only can I secure a bargain that supplies a buyer’s high for the rest of my day, but I can help a charity in the process. Everyone wins.
Mind is a bright and spacious charity shop, carrying your normal range of clothing, shoes, books and bric a brac. The beauty of these shopping experiences is the amount of luck that’s involved, which is where the thrill of the hunt comes in.
There aren’t so many books or bric a brac at this branch, but the clothing on stock here more than makes up for it. Mind carries an abundance of adult attire, on offer now for only £1 an item, with kids’ clothes priced as low as 3 for £1. It’s also worth noting that Mind carries a fairly good selection of belts, pillows and hats, if you’re interested.