Charity & Vintage Shopping in Manchester- Cheadle

My wonderful flatmate and fellow bargain hunter Becky  and I have recently moved to Manchester and, naturally, the first thing on our agenda was to seek out the best charity shops in the area. After a quick google search we decided that Cheadle was a safe bet to find a few shops in one place- we were not disappointed. With around 10 charity shops to choose from on the high street we were spoilt for choice, especially as Cheadle is home to the only exclusively vintage Barnado's store, easily one of my favourite shops I've ever been into, (but more on that later, I've saved the best till last!)

Our first port of call was St Ann's Hospice shop which is directly opposite the bus stop (get the X51 from Piccadilly Gardens in Central Manchester and it will take you around 40  mins). This was a well laid out and colour coordinated store, Becky picked up a '70s style tan button up skirt and there were plenty of fashion forward pieces to chose from. But we really were in for a surprise when we spotted the sign for a vintage section upstairs.... 

The vintage section was completely surprising and had a gorgeous interior, look at that ceiling! The 'bar' area was topped with copper with French posters on the walls, glass and crystal ware on the shelves, and mirrors everywhere. There was some definite hints of art deco pieces dotted around which would look amazing in the right home. I found a 100% suede slouchy jacket here for £14, I fell in love with it but sadly it just didn't fit correctly on me. 

Our next stop was a Barnardo's store, in which most items were £1.99, the quality of some of the garments reflected this but there were still many a bargain to be found in here. I found this cropped, ribbed top with a keyhole detail on the front which will look great with a pair of denim shorts for a simple summer look.

Next up was the British Heart Foundation, the shop was jammed with loads of colour and prints for summer, there was plenty of good quality clothing here and you could easily deck yourself out for a holiday after a quick browse through their rails. The prices are a little expensive for some items but this is due to the fantastic condition of every item. Becky found a '90s meets '70s mesh crop top here with bell sleeves.

PDSA is a chain I've not often come across before but they had a great range of higher end high street brands such as Oasis and Marks and Spencer as well as a lovely homeware collection of their own.

Both Becky and I struck gold at Cancer Research, each snapping up French Connection dresses for less than a fiver, this is a small shop but with a large range of dresses, jackets and blouses. I love the neckline of this dress that I picked up, I've been after one for ages and this is just the ticket.

Drum roll please... Our favourite store by far was this vintage Barnardo's, it is the only vintage Barbado's in the UK, previously there were stores based in Edinburgh and Glasgow but I'm so pleased that we are lucky enough to have the only one left right on our doorstep. The store is beautifully laid out as you can see by the pictures with racks of real vintage clothes, homeware, haberdashery, records, books and even toys and dolls. The best part is, everything is genuine, quality vintage for fantastically reasonable prices.

The furniture was gorgeous inside and had knick knacks over every surface- look at this beautiful cabinet filled with cameras! On the left hand shelving there was also a shelf dedicated to vintage brassware- I was in heaven!

I loved the arrangement of these lampshades on top of the sewing and haberdashery area- how cute is the baby blue sewing machine?!

A whole corner of the store was dedicated to vinyl and vintage books, I have recently bought a record player so will be shuffling through these boxes on my next trip. 

Sadly, because I had to go and get a train we only had about 5 minutes to run around this shop in awe and so didn't get a proper chance to look through everything and make some purchases! I can't wait for my next visit though and I'm sure I will come away with armfuls of beautiful old treasures. I couldn't recommend this store enough with it's wonderful layout and unique items. The store can be followed on Instagram and Twitter @vintagecheadle.

If you're looking to charity shop in Manchester, Cheadle is definitely the place to go! 

P.S Vintage Cheadle Barnado's has recently updated their window for the summer and I am in love. The chair, the white suitcase, the floral dress- it's all too much! Head down on Saturday for their fundraising event with the chance to win some prizes.