A charity shop celebrated its 25th year in Cwmbran town centre.

Staff and volunteers in Tŷ Hafan held a birthday party on Friday 25 March 2022 with cake and balloons to mark the special event. The children’s charity believes the Cwmbran shop to be the oldest among its 19 shops across Wales.

Every week the team take 200-300 bags of donations from residents to prepare and get on sale to customers.

Sue Leach, one of the store’s two deputy managers, explained why the shop is so popular with customers buying items and giving donations: “I think a lot of it is down to footfall but I think one of the biggest things is our volunteers. Some of the volunteers have been here ten, 15, 20 years. Every one of them adds something to what the shop is. All the customers come in and they all know at least one of the volunteers. They come in and have a bit of chat, spend some money, come back and see how they all are.

“I think it’s the community side of it more than anything because of how the volunteers grab it all together. The volunteers all do different things. They are all different ages, have had different experiences in their lives and bring different things.

“Every one of them makes you feel welcome.”

She said parents of children have been supported by the hospice pop in to make donations. A few of the volunteers started off as customers and enjoyed shopping there so much they asked if they could help out.

The shop welcomes donations and visit their website to find out more about volunteering.