Age Concern Manchester

I’m going to be honest; charity shops are amongst my favourite things, alongside shouting at the TV and knitting. So imagine how happy I was when I found an awesome charity shop that also sells knitting yarn! And TVs!
Age Concern’s Withington branch looks a little careworn from outside (most shops on Copson Street do, to be fair) and it has its fair share of charity-​shop-​tat-​that-​nobody-​wants, souvenir teaspoons and Dan Brown novels etc. There’s very little to distinguish it from other charity shops, apart from the yarn (in many different colours, at less than £2 a ball, and all proceeds go to charity!) and the fact that this particular charity shop sells electricals and small furniture, at great prices.
Whilst living in Withington, my 14″ telly from my teenage self’s bedroom finally gave up the ghost. On Heroes day. I was, as you can imagine, gutted, and went to work with a thundercloud over my head. Then, at lunch time, the boyfriend texts me. He’s been to Age Concern and bought a 30″ telly for £25! Woo! Now I could watch Heroes and feel good about helping the elderly. The TV (one of the old skool ‘fat’ ones) has not failed us since, and it was an excellent bargain. The shop stocks two or three TVs at a time, as well as the odd DVD player or VCR, and the stock is being constantly renewed from a central warehouse. The furniture is often a little old fashioned, but sometimes there are real gems; for example the Singer sewing machine in its own cabinet that I missed buying by about 30 seconds, and which went for a ridiculously cheap £45.
As well as bargainous furniture and TVs and yarn, Age Concern Withington also stocks a pretty good selection of mismatched china, great if you’re going for the shabby chic look on a budget. It also occasionally has esoteric kitchen accessories; I swear I once saw something called the Onionator but I might have been hallucinating. All electricals are tested and certified safe.
You might be deterred by its shabby exterior and its weird fusty smell, but this is a real gem of a charity shop, and it’s helping some of the nation’s neediest people. So get down there, dig deep and come away with enough wool to knit a football team!