Charity retail training – in the bag!

Charity Retail Learning is a collaboration between the Charity Retail Association and The Charity Retail Academy. Together we provide first class, charity retail specific training covering all you need to make your team stand out from the crowd. Delivered by experts in their field, we offer short videos to live webinars, online learning to one to one coaching. When it comes to charity retail training we’ve got just what you need – it’s all in the bag!

Charity retail training – in the bag!

Charity Retail Learning is a collaboaration between the Charity Retail Association and The Charity Retail Academy. Together we provide first class, charity retail specific training covering all you need to make your team stand out from the crowd. Delivered by experts in their field, we offer short videos to live webinars, online learning to one to one coaching. When it comes to charity retail training we’ve got just what you need – it’s all in the bag!

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Courses

All our courses are unique in that they have all been developed specifically for charity retailers.

As charity retailers ourselves, we understand the challenges and needs of you and your team. We have developed our courses specifically for the sector, meaning you get real insight, great value and the best learning experience possible.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? We’re always happy to add new courses and webinars to support you, so do get in touch hello@thecharityretailacademy.co.uk

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Free Courses

Browse our selection of free courses from a range of topics.

One-stop Induction Packages

Our Manager induction Package is a great deal offering Charity Retailers a comprehensive and thorough introduction to the world of charity retail and further develop their skills.

Customer Service

Learn how to create a customer centred culture and engage with & delight your customers every time.

Volunteering

Where would we be without volunteers? Here you can learn how to recruit, retain. train, engage with and develop your volunteer team.

Charity Retail Essentials

Learn the fundamentals of running a great charity shop – including your people, your product and your processes. This section includes everrything you need to make the bery best of your charity retail operation.

Managing Retail Teams

Aimed at those who manage shop managers – how to set great KPIs & objectives, successful supervision, remote management and more to help you get the most from your team.

Health & Safety

Courses with the charity shop environment in mind. Moving & handling, security, dealing with shoplifters, fire awareness and safe use of equipment can all be found here.

Stock

A key driver of success, there’s lots to learn about stock! How to get, process & price it – as well as how to make the best use of space, warehousing & logistics and much more.

eCommerce

Are you making the most of your online offer? Want to set up your first online shop? Learn all about how to go about it here.

Engagement & Marketing

Learn how to promote your store, building local relationships, using social media, running shop events and telling your story.

Digital Skills

Make the most of what digital can offer with our range of courses covering social media, basic IT skills and selling online.

Wellbeing

Look after your team with specialist courses in mental health awareness, diversity & inclusion, restorative practice & resilience.

Mental Health First Aid Qualification Package – 7.2.23 – 22.2.23 (5 sessions)

£300.00 excl. VAT

What is Mental Health First Aid?

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally recognised training course which teaches people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.

MHFA England training won’t teach you to be a therapist, but just like physical first aid, it will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis.

This course is delivered by Kate Wootton who is a quality assured Instructor Member and has attended the MHFA Instructor Training programme, accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health. Kate is trained to keep people safe and supported while they learn.

In addition to the MHFA qualification, we also include a session on how this might be applied in a charity retail context, using case studies and scenarios to bring the learning to life. If you already have the MHFA qualification, you are able to join the charity retail session as a stand alone course here

From our course, you will gain:

A deeper understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect people’s wellbeing, including your own
Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues
Confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress
Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgmental listening
Knowledge to help someone recover their health by guiding them to appropriate support
How to apply your learning in a charity retail context
A nationally recognised qualification

Learning takes place through a mix of group activities, presentations and discussions.

Webinar Details:

Tutors: Kate Wootton & Vicki Burnett

MHFA Qualification:

Date: 7th, 8th, 15th & 16th February 2023
Time: 9am – 1pm
Length: 4 hours each

MHFA in a charity retail context:

Date: 22.02.23
Time: 9am – 11:30pm
Length: 2.5 hours

Find out more

Meet Our Tutors

All our tutors are either from the charity retail sector or are hand picked by us for their specialist knowledge in their field.

We work closely with all our tutors to make sure the content they deliver is relevant and accessible for a charity retail audience.

Jayne Cartwright

Co-founder of The Charity Retail Academy and Founder & Director of The Charity Retail Consultancy. You can read more about Jayne here.

Daniel O'Driscoll

Dan runs Engagement Consultancy and is a Charity Retail Academy Associate, executive coach & volunteering expert. Previously Head of Volunteering at Oxfam, Dan delivers our volunteering courses.

Anne Webb

A very well known face in the secctor, Anne was Deputy Director of Trading at Oxfam and Chair of the Charity Retail Association until 2020. With a background in HR, Anne is exremely well qualified to be delivering our people managment courses.

Sarah Baggaley

Sarah is a teacher and Restorative Lead Practitioner working across education, social care & Health in a local authority. She delivers our wellbeing session

Michael Fleming

Michael is our Gift Aid Guru. He works for Nisyst (one of the sector’s leading EPoS providers) as their lead trainer & has provided Gift Aid training for the Charity Retail Association since 2019.

Ailene Young

Ailene Young has 30 years experience in Retail, with over 10 years in the charity sector in senior management roles. Having recently undergone the NEBOSH, (Health and Safety National General Certificate) Ailene delivers our Health and Safety for Charity Retailers course

Minoti Parikh

Minoti Parikh comes with an international experience of facilitating more than 1600 team engagement, wellbeing and training programs in over 25 countries.

Minoti was in the top 100 Female Entrepreneurs in the country list in 2020, is a Business Leader in Residence at Lancaster University along with being a Trustee at East Street Arts in Leeds.

Minoti delivers our Resilience course

Kate Wootton

Kate is an accomplished management consultant and executive coach, having worked extensively for international corporations and in private, public and the charity sectors. She is passionate about understanding as much as she can about people’s behaviours so that she can support them.

Kate runs Mental Health First Aid, Awareness, Champion and Refresher courses as well as wellbeing and resilience programmes. Into each she brings her own particular experience.

Julian Temblett

Julian is a marketing specialist and consultant to the sector, as the Charity Retail Marketeer. He has almost 30 years’ experience in marketing, with 15 of those leading British Heart Foundation’s retail marketing and business development, before delivering BHF’s five-year marketing and fundraising strategy. He is a trained coach, has recently completed a mini-MBA in marketing, and brings a wealth of experience to deliver our new Marketing Essentials and future marketing courses.

Vicki Burnett

Co-founder of The Charity Retail Academy and Senior Consultant with The Charity Retail Consultancy. You can read more about Vicki here

Ngozi Lyn Cole

Freelance consultant & trainer, Ngozi was named in the 2016 New View 50 list as one of the top 50 most influential Black and Minority Ethnic people working in the public sector. She is passionate about people, equality and collaboration and delivers our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion training

Kat Maclennan

Visual Merchandising expert Kat runs her own VM company – Dot to Dot, Experienced in the development of VM strategies, store planning principles, window concept design and training store teams, Kat delivers our VM training courses & webinars

Zoe Amar

Zoe Amar is widely regarded as one of the charity sector’s leading digital experts, is Chair of The Charity Digital Code of Practice and was recently voted one of the 25 most influential charity leaders by Charity Times. Zoe delivers our Social Media for Charity Retailers course.

Emily Beere

Emily is the co-founder and chief sales officer of the e-commerce platform built for charity shops, thriftify. She shares their learnings while delivering our Intro to e-Commerce course.

Pete Thomas

Pete manages the security & loss prevention team at Lodge Service, who support charities nationwide in helping to reduce loss and improve safety and security in their shops. Pete delivers our Improving Security training.

Rae Ritchie

Rae Ritchie is a freelance writer, editor, researcher and speaker specialising in sustainability and ethical living. She works for a range of publications including Woman&Home, where she produces the Green Made Easy page, and Woman, where she is the eco agony aunt – and has been a fan of charity shops since buying a velvet jacket from the British Heart Foundation in 1996. Rae delivers our Green Credentials course.

Nicola Woodgate

Nicola Woodgate has over 25 years’ experience working with charities, income teams, marketing teams and supporting charity retail teams. She is currently Head of Marketing and Deputy Director of Income at St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds where they have 24 charity shops across the city, which collectively raise over £3.5 million per year. Nicola is passionate about effective communications and delivers our course on improving engagement between retail teams and the wider charity.

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