The best charity shop streets in London, and what each one is good for
One good charity shop is a nice surprise. Five on the same street is an afternoon. These are the London streets where the shops come in clusters, so you can work along one side and back down the other without getting on a bus, and where the donations tend to be worth the walk.
A rule that holds everywhere: the shops in the posher postcodes get the better labels, and they know it. Expect to pay more than in Walthamstow for the same jumper. What you're paying for is the odds.
Upper Street and Essex Road, Islington
The best single run in London, if you ask me. Start at Angel and walk north.
Near the bottom you've got Royal Trinity Hospice at number 43, which bills itself as a cut above your average charity shop and stocks vintage and high-end pieces. Oxfam Books and Music is almost opposite at 48, with sheet music, vinyl and a dedicated classical section if you're that way inclined. Oxfam's clothes shop is round the corner at 29 Islington High Street.
Keep going and it gets better. Save the Children's Mary's Living and Giving at 138 is their boutique format for designer donations, Shelter's Islington Boutique is at 159, and North London Hospice is at 194 to 195. Peel off down Essex Road for Sue Ryder at number 72, which says it puts new stock out several times a day.
That's seven shops in about a mile, and Highbury and Islington station at the top for the way home. Mary's is closed on Sundays, so do this one on a Saturday.
Marie Curie at Highbury Corner, at the top of Upper Street, in 2021. Photo: David Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Northcote Road and St John's Road, Battersea
Come out of Clapham Junction, walk up St John's Road, and keep going when it turns into Northcote Road.
St John's Road is the warm-up. Royal Trinity Hospice's Clapham Junction shop at 73 does menswear, womenswear and a curve collection, and the British Heart Foundation at 62 is a furniture and electricals shop, handy if you're kitting out a flat.
Northcote Road is where it gets good. Trinity's Northcote Road shop at 40 is small and boutique-ish, with a proper bag and accessories section. Shelter's boutique is across the road at 49, promising designer pieces and vintage one-offs, and further up there's a FARA kids' shop at 144. It's a well-off bit of south London with a lot of young families, and the donations reflect it. Good for kids' clothes and mid-range labels.
King's Road and Old Church Street, Chelsea
The famous one, and fair enough. The star is the British Red Cross on Old Church Street, just off the King's Road, which describes itself as a vintage charity shop and name-checks Chanel and Valentino alongside St Michael. The Red Cross says to ring ahead before a special trip, as hours can change, and I would.
Then work west along the King's Road. Octavia is at 303, Royal Trinity Hospice at 389 and Oxfam at 432, which credits the area's well-heeled residents for the designer labels on its rails. There's also an Oxfam Boutique on Shawfield Street, at the Sloane Square end.
Prices are Chelsea prices. You won't get a Chanel jacket for a tenner. You might get one for a lot less than Chanel would charge, which is the point.
Notting Hill Gate and Kensington Church Street
Trinity has two shops within a few minutes of Notting Hill Gate station: Kensington Church Street, which talks up its shoes and designer pieces and now has a menswear department, and Notting Hill Gate itself. The Oxfam on Notting Hill Gate is known for contemporary and vintage fashion, and for books from antiquarian to foreign-language comics.
If you've got the legs for it, carry on to Portobello Road. The Red Cross at 164 has the same vintage-and-designer stock as its Chelsea sister, and it's a nicer way to do Portobello than fighting the Saturday crowds at the antiques end.
South End Road, Hampstead
Small but strong. Get the Overground to Hampstead Heath and the shops are right outside. Shelter's Hampstead Heath Boutique at 57 was designed by Wayne Hemingway's team, and Octavia is at 33. Octavia says its shops have a reputation for designer and vintage pieces, and in NW3 that's believable.
Walk up through the village afterwards for the Oxfam Bookshop on Heath Street, which keeps rare and collectable books, and Oxfam's clothes shop on Gayton Road, just off the High Street. Then go and sit on the Heath with whatever you've bought.
Crouch End
No Tube, which keeps it calmer. Topsfield Parade has three shops more or less in a row: Shelter at 19, which also takes small furniture, North London Hospice at 21 and Marie Curie at 32. Round the corner, Fight for Sight on Broadway Parade has been done up with a premium feel, and the Oxfam on Park Road is books and music. It's an easy bus from Finsbury Park or Archway.
Why not Marylebone
Marylebone High Street gets on every list, mostly because of the Oxfam at number 91, which has a serious book section alongside its clothes. But it's a two-shop street at best, and the prices match the postcode. Pop in if you're passing. I wouldn't make the trip.
A last tip: some of these shops don't print their opening hours, and the Red Cross asks you to ring before a special trip. Most of the boutiques open on Sundays from 11 (the Red Cross in Chelsea from 12, and Mary's not at all), but check the shop's page first.