It was fantastic last week to be back in Nottingham at the Charity Retail Association Conference. After a really tough year for everyone, it was good to catch up, share experiences and celebrate all that our sector has achieved.
We wanted to talk about some of the key themes emerging from the sessions and how Charity Retail Learning can help you make the most of them, so here goes..
Sustainability
This was the overall theme of the conference and it was fabulous to see so many suppliers and retailers making positive steps in this area.
We’ve put together a short course on Green Credentials for Charity Retailers. It gives context to the global growth of secondhand and practical ideas about how you can communicate your sustainability messages. Charity retail has a fantastic and authentic Green story – let’s shout about it!
Resilience
The fact that the conference even happened, and that so many of you are still standing is a testament to how resilient we are as a sector. But it’s something we can’t take for granted. Focusing on mental health, wellbeing and resilience is something everyone should be doing now, to help us deal with the impact of the pandemic.
We were delighted to hear from some of the charities who’ve already signed up for our Resilience for Charity Retailers course about how it’s made a measurable and immediate difference to their teams.
Brand & Communications
Wayne Hemingway, the sector’s old friend and ally, told us in no uncertain terms that we all need to work hard to develop our brand and stories. The work he’s done with Shelter is a great example of using retail space to promote the charity’s goals. Social media is a huge part of communicating this too, reaching people beyond those who already shop with and support you.
Our Social Media for charity shops course, created by the brilliant Zoe Amar, is a great way to upskill local teams and tell your story.
And our newest course – Charity Retail Community Engagement – will help you build stronger relationships locally, adding value to your community and to your offer.
eCommerce
There was a whole host of sessions on eCommerce of course. We’ve all seen how this growing income stream has positively impacted the sector during lockdown and beyond.
We were delighted to work with Emily Beere from Thriftify to develop an online course on eCommerce. Aimed at entry and intermediate level e-sellers, it gives fantastic insights into how to make good choices in all aspects of your eCommerce operation to reap the best return
We hope you enjoyed the conference as much as we did – and that next year we’ll all be together again, stronger, bigger and even better than this year.
We’ll see you all there.
More About Us
The Charity Retail Consultancy helps charity retailers and other non-profits (including museums and galleries) develop their retail operation, improve their product offer and people, and improve their profitability.
The Charity Retail Academy provides online & face to face training developed by charity retailers, for charity retailers. We work in partnership with the Charity Retail Association to deliver Charity Retail Learning to their members and beyond.
The Charity Retail Coach offers a first class executive coaching service via our Associate, Dan O’Driscoll.
To find out more or to speak to us about how we can help you, please get in touch:
hello@thecharityretailconsultancy.co.uk
Jayne – 07598 243210
Vicki – 07985 574904
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