Where to go on a charity shop TREASURE HUNT

After an anonymous donor gave £50,000 of designer clothes to a store in Tunbridge Wells...

AChAriTy shop might be the last place you would expect to buy a Valentino dress, a Gucci coat or a skirt by erdem, a label favoured by the Duchess of Sussex.

So it came as quite a surprise when a £50,000 haul of high-end clothing was donated to one store in Kent last week.

Fashion enthusiasts flocked to the Mind charity shop in Tunbridge Wells in the hope of bagging a designer bargain from the mystery donor.

As many as 50 shoppers were in the store at one point, according to manager Alison homewood,

who has been working overtime to meet the demand.

One regular customer got so carried away she spent £3,000 snapping up designer bargains.

So who is the mystery benefactor? The garments ranged in size from a 10 to a size 16, and this was not the first time she has arrived at the branch with large donations of luxury apparel.

‘She’s a regular donor who is incredibly generous,’ Mrs homewood reveals. ‘We recognise her but we don’t know her name.

‘She gives the bags to us, we rub our hands and get cracking.’

Only ‘a couple’ of items remain unsold from the donor’s most recent wardrobe clear-out, which could raise around £15,000.

Charities have become increasingly savvy in recognising highend donations and the prices

they should be selling them for. So those who are hoping to find a Gucci handbag for £3 might be sorely disappointed.

Some charities sell the more valuable items on specialist boutique websites run by the charities or their own eBay stores.

But there are still treasures to be found in high Street branches if you know where to look, as we have discovered . . .

Words: MARY O’CONNOR THE recent £50,000 donation to the Tunbridge Wells Mind shop included a houndstooth coat by Gucci, worth around £2,650, which sold for more than £400. There was also a black Valentino dress with multi-coloured pleating that went for £650. One pair of gold heels by Rupert Sanderson were priced at £140, while there was a £900 Mulberry pink

spotty dress (right) that went on sale for £425. Savvy shoppers could also get a taste of Meghan Markle’s wardrobe by buying a £1,500 silk skirt from one of her favourite brands, the luxury label Erdem — on offer for a bargain £245. Manager Alison Homewood said: ‘We also had a beautiful Valentino dress we sold for £650 in plain black with a gorgeous ice cream pleat in pale blue, yellow and pink.’