Thousands of op shops around the country are urging people to declutter and donate their unwanted items to those in need.
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National Op Shop Week is in its sixth year, and aims to highlight the fact that many op shops are in need of quality donations for those doing it tough.
Op Shop Week founder Jon Dee wants everyone to start thinking more about what they can do for their community’s charities, and encouraged people to buy items to reuse, reinvent, and recycle, instead of buying things brand new.
“Op Shop Week has been set up to increase donations to charity op shops, and to encourage more people to shop at them. We’re also appealing to people to become volunteers at their local charity op shops,” he said.
Mr Dee is calling on people to have a spring clean this weekend, and to declutter and donate things that are unneeded to charity.
“We’re encouraging everyone to have a spring clean to find items of clothing or household items of good quality that they’re no longer using to donate,” he said.
“Just make sure that when you donate, it’s something that you would be comfortable giving to a close friend or family member.
“Major charity op shops such as Salvos, Vinnies, and Australian Red Cross are involved in National Op Shop Week. We’ve also set up a website where people can type in their postcode and find local charity stores.”
Launceston’s latest Salvation Army op shop opened up about 10 weeks ago. It's a boutique-style store, and has settled into a large premises in The Kingsway.
Store manager Rebecca Cain said the store had been well received since its opening.
"It's set up as a bit of a concept store," Ms Cain said, "We've designed it to be in competition with mainstream clothing stores.”
"Lots of people think it's a boutique store until they find out it's a Salvos."
While there's still "a wide range of clothing", Ms Cain said shoppers could find more hand-picked, speciality items.
As Op Shop Week and the start of spring coincide, Ms Cain said it was an ideal time for people to clean out their wardrobes, and donate excess clothing.
The week ran from August 27 to September 2.