About Us

Charity Retail Learning

We provide highly rated, charity retail specific training – giving all you need to make your team stand out from the crowd.
Delivered by expert tutors, 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!
Download our brochure to read more about Charity Retail Learning

Charity Retail Learning is a collaboration between the Charity Retail Association and The Charity Retail Academy

The Charity Retail Association is the primary membership association for charity shops in the UK. Its vision is a successful charity retail sector in the UK, actively promoted and supported by the Charity Retail Association.

About the Charity Retail Association

We are the primary membership association for charity shops in the UK.

Our sector generates more than £330m surplus funds per year from more than a billion pounds of turnover, and harnesses the skills of more than 233,000 volunteers nationwide. Charity retail promotes charitable causes and an environmentally sustainable retail experience. Our UK members run around 9000 shops between them.

What We Do

Lobby on key issues including Gift Aid, waste charging and donated stock supply
Provide a sense of community and collaboration both online and through a comprehensive schedule of events
Promote best practice through policy guidance, mentoring and other practical resources
Increase public support for charity retail through campaigns
Carry out and commission research, such as market analysis and specialist reports for bench-marking and informing decision-makers, our members and the public
Provide training and learning opportunities
To find out more please visit www.charityretail.org.uk

Charity Retail Learning™ was founded in 2020 as a direct result of the COVID pandemic and the need to communicate more online. It’s an arm of The Charity Retail Consultancy which was established in 2010 by Jayne Cartwright to help support charities with all aspects of their retail and trading operations.

About Charity Retail Learning

We’re proud and passionate charity retailers with the aim to provide high quality, accessible learning opportunities for the sector. Having headed up chains such as Save the Children, Cats Protection, The Children’s Society, St Gemma’s Hospice and Martin House Children’s Hospice ourselves, we understand what makes a successful charity retail operation – and it all starts with the team.

We know that finding relevant, affordable training you can trust can be almost impossible – so we created The Academy to make the process simple, reliable and affordable.

What We offer

A one-stop-shop of online learning opportunities, specifically designed by and for charity retailers.

Current courses cover subjects including:

Gift Aid
Visual Merchandising
Health & Safety
Volunteering
Customer service
Stock
eCommerce
Managing retail teams
Engagement and marketing
Wellbeing
Digital skills

All our tutors are either charity retailers themselves, or are experts in their field and have developed their courses with guidance and support from us to ensure they meet our audience’s needs.

We’re a UK Registered Learning Provider : UKPRN: 10087672

To browse at our full range of courses click here.

To find our more about The Charity Retail Consultancy and the range of services we offer, click here

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.

Vicki Burnett

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

Kat Maclennan

Kat runs her own VM company – Dot to Dot – and is the Charity Retail Merchandiser with The Charity Retail Consultancy. Experienced in the development of VM strategies, store planning principles, window concept design and training store teams, Kat delivers our VM online courses, webinars and face to face sessions.

Anne Webb

A very well known face in the sector, Anne has been Director of Trading at Oxfam and Chair of the Charity Retail Association. She also worked with Barnardo’s and was a People Associate at The Charity Retail Consultancy. With a background in HR, Anne is extremely 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.

Daniel O'Driscoll

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

Kate Wootton

Kate is an accomplished management consultant and executive coach. She runs Mental Health First Aid, Awareness, Champion and Refresher courses as well as wellbeing and resilience programmes. She is our MHFA Consultant and can deliver bespoke MHFA courses for your team.

Minoti Parikh

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

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.

Ailene Young

Ailene Young has over 30 years experience in Retail, with well over 10 years in the charity sector in senior management roles with Shelter, RNLI & Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland. She is NEBOSH qualified, (Health and Safety National General Certificate) and delivers our Health and Safety for Charity Retailers course

Mick Crane

Mick is our Gift Aid Guru. He works for Nisyst (one of the sector’s leading EPOS providers) as their lead trainer. Nisyst have provided Gift Aid training for the Charity Retail Association since 2019 and continue to do so via our online and face to face courses.

Pete Thomas

Pete manages the security & loss prevention team at Lodge Service Charity, supporting charities nationwide in helping to reduce loss and improve safety and security in their shops. Pete has many years’ experience and is well known and respected acrosst the sector. He delivers online webinars on managing customer behaviour, and designed and delivered our “Staying safe” click-through 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.

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.

Julian Temblett

Julian is a marketing specialist. He has over 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.

Amelia Cartwright

Amelia is our Marketing & Engagement Consultant, specialising in youth-focused support for the charity retail sector. With hands-on experience as a CRUK supervisor, a team leader at COP26, and in both commercial retail and voluntary leadership, she brings a strong understanding of how to inspire and involve young people in charity retail. Passionate about sustainability, digital storytelling and volunteer engagement, Amelia helps charities create compelling content, strengthen their social media presence and build meaningful connections with younger audiences.

Charlotte Greenwood

Charlotte is a people‑centred retail leader with over 20 years’ experience across major high‑street brands and award‑winning charity retail. After building deep expertise in merchandising, data‑led decision‑making and multi‑channel strategy with retailers, she moved into the charity sector, leading Isabel Hospice’s 17‑shop network, eCommerce platforms and warehouse to sector‑recognised, sustainability‑focused success. She is known for championing purposeful, inclusive retail and regularly speaks at national events

Diane Eyre

Diane brings over 30 years of commercial and charity retail experience, from opening major stores to leading national operations. She has held senior roles at Save the Children UK and a regional charity, delivering major change projects across strategy, EPOS, volunteering and team development. Degree‑educated with CIPD membership, she’s also an experienced trainer and regular sector speaker.

FAQ

Can I pay by invoice?

Yes of course – just drop us an email and we can arrange that for you, no problem

I want to book a course for a colleague – how can I do that?

There’s a couple of ways to do this.

If you’re purchasing the course via the site, just provide us with the name(s) and email address(es) of your colleague(s) in the notes section when you pay for the course online. We’ll then set up an account for them if they don’t have one already, and add the relevant course for them to access

If you’re paying via invoice, or if you have multiple colleagues to add, just drop us an email and we’ll sort it all out for you

How many people can take the course?

Each course is purchased for a single, nominated person who is able to access it via their own Charity Retail Learning account.

If you want to share it with your colleagues, you’ll need to purchase a course for each individual – just get in touch if you need help with this.

Is there a time limit on when and how many times I can do the courses?

No – you can do the courses as and when you like – as many times as you like

Do I get a certificate to say I’ve passed?

Yes – you need to get 80% or more on the quiz, then you’ll automatically get a personalised certificate to download.

I can’t make a webinar or face to face course I’m booked on – can I transfer my place to a colleague?

This is usually absolutely fine – just drop us an email and let us know and we’ll do the rest. For our Mental Health First Aid courses, there is a cut off time of 6 weeks prior to the first session. After then, we’re sorry but we’re unable to transfer your place.

I can’t make a webinar or face to face course I’m booked on – can I get a refund?

We operate the following refund policy, depending on when you cancel:

6 weeks or more before the course: No charge

4-6 weeks: You pay 30% of the full cost

2-4 weeks: You pay 50% of the full cost

1-2 weeks: You pay 75% of the full cost

Less than 1 week: You pay 100% of the full cost

I’ve lost my password and/or account details

Don’t worry! We can reset it for you – drop us an email and we’ll sort it for you

I can’t log into my account

Don’t worry! We can help – drop us an email and we’ll sort it for you

Where are my courses?

Just login to the site and your courses are all under the My Account tab. If you still can’t find them, drop us an email and we’ll sort it for you

I want to buy lots of courses – can I get a discount?

Our subscription package is the best way to make great savings. Learn more about it here.

We also offer a 10% discount on all our courses to members of the Charity Retail Association. Please contact them to get your discount code or to enquire about joining.

Can I see how my team are progressing with their courses?

Yes – we can either set you up to access this information directly, or we can send you reports as you require. You can see where each learner is up to on the course and if they have passed the quiz. Get in touch to discuss your needs.

Can I preview any of the courses?

If you’re buying multiple courses, we can sometimes arrange this for you. Just get in touch to discuss your needs.

Will you be doing any new courses?

We’re always adding courses to our site – and if you have an idea or request for a particular subject, just drop us an email and we’ll see what we can do!

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