The CharioCity Workshops Report

In March 2020, the pandemic changed our day-to-day life in the UK in ways we could never have previously imagined. All the things we took for granted suddenly shifted, and a ‘new normal’ slowly emerged as we sought to protect ourselves from the virus. Three years on, we are still working on rebuilding areas of the economy and culture that suffered. Some things may be lost forever, but the charity shops on our street have held on. The pandemic shone a new light on them, as donations piled up like mountains outside them during lockdowns; and elderly volunteers understandably feared coming back to work.

During 2021 we wanted to spend time exploring how design researchers and educators might be able to help them. We brought together key stakeholders from the front of house as well as the ‘back end’ of the supply chain. We worked with talented designers and students to develop new tools and creative briefs, to support new partnerships between the charity shop sector and design education. We hope you find the results useful and find new ways to make change on with charity shop partners your high street soon.