Shoppers at the Dairy Farm Centre in West Belfast can now enjoy a wealth of fabulous pre-loved clothes, toys and bric-a-brac, all for bargain prices, at the Centre’s new Vincent’s store. Vincent’s is the retail arm of charity, St Vincent de Paul NI (SVP), with all funds raised in the shop going to support the vital work carried out by SVP in the north.
Anne Crossan, regional retail services manager for SVP, explains: “We are delighted to have our new store open in the Dairy Farm Centre. Our shop is at the rear of the centre at W3 and we are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.
“The amazing items that we have in the shop are all kindly donated by the public and we are very grateful to each and every person who passes their pre-loved goods and clothing to us. If you have any unwanted items in your wardrobe or in your home, such as clothing, toys, books, DVDs and general bric-a-brac, we would be delighted if you could drop it into our Dairy Farm shop, where our volunteers will display garments and items for shoppers in the community to purchase.”
SVP is a volunteer-led organisation and teams work tirelessly, 365 days a year, to provide assistance to all sections of the community across Northern Ireland.
Through Conferences (groups), SVP works with those in need, irrespective of creed, ethnic or social backgrounds, health, gender or political opinions, in local areas. Around 1800 SVP volunteers carry out activities for the charity, including paying weekly visits to around 2,500 people and run crèches, breakfast clubs and the network of 33 Vincent’s shops across the province.
Anne continues: “We are so very grateful to all of our wonderful volunteers across SVP, who help their communities in so many different ways. I can honestly say that each of our Vincent’s is at the heart of its local community and our volunteers play an important part in helping to make this the case.
“Over the coming months, we hope to be able to extend our Dairy Farm shop opening hours on a Saturday but we are reliant on our dedicated volunteers who run our shops. If there is anyone in the community who could spare a few hours to volunteer in Vincent’s, please do get in touch! We would love to hear from you – just call into the shop and let us know if you could help out or email me at anne.crossan@svpni.co.uk.”