Charity Shop Challenge
(an idea from the vaults)
(old Hockers there, for all of about ten bucks)
Problem with buying new is that it’s all so expensive now isn’t it? At a time when money’s dwindling, when interest rates are lurching around like your auntie at a wedding, it’d be insane to go splurging on a premium T-shirt or a fancy frock. I mean, think about it - it’s only really premium/fancy until you’ve worn it once, then it’s old hat, officially used, immediately second-hand and worth a fraction of the price. No, you need to get yourself down to Vinted, pal... or better still, to an actual second-hand shop. Bricks and mortar.
I’ve always been a huge fan of second-hand shops, some charitable, some just in it for the money. When I was really little, my mum used to take me to a “pre-loved” clothes shop called, I think, Friplers (pronounced “frip-lers”) where they stocked all manner of stone washed denim and big mohair jumpers - this being around 1984 - all at convivial prices (few shillings here, couple of bob there). In the years since, I’ve found myself rummaging through piles of clothes, records, books, even shoes. I bought my first pair of Nike trainers from an Oxfam (Cortez with a silver swoosh, slightly smelly). I’ve stumbled across original James Brown albums, worth loads but going for pennies, in amongst the stacks of Johnny Mathis and Neil Sedaka records that are like magnets to charity shops. Destined to be chucked out.
At some level, these places are the perfect embodiment of human hope. We dream of finding that treasure trove, that innocuous gem heaving with goodies - or at the very least an impressive jumble with the faint promise of real actual bargains lurking within. Remnants of a heartier life lived elsewhere at a separate point in time.
Things are tough, times are hard. As a freelance writer, over the last year or so (mainly thanks to swiftly advancing tech) I’ve seen regular bread and butter work plummet to the bottom of the ocean, I’ve watched jobs vanish, rates stagnate, and invoices sit unpaid for so long they develop their own ecosystem. So there’s an added psychological premium in locating a bargain, in the satisfying rush of a quick win. Just walking through a charity shop door can be like that first penny scrape on a scratchcard. You just don’t know.
I’ve certainly enjoyed some excellent finds over the years. I've kept lots of them too, turned them into heirlooms. There’s a beautiful Wrangler shirt that’s been on heavy rotation for well over a decade (set me back about £3), a framed David Hockney poster from 1977 that lives in my shed/office (under £20), excellent movies like Enter the Dragon, Cabaret, Hitchcock’s finest, Notorious (probably about £1 each), a Marilyn Monroe coffee table book written by Norman Mailer that mostly finds femininity canceling out masculinity and occasionally vice versa (couple of quid), great literature from Kurt Vonnegut (Breakfast of Champions and The Sirens of Titan, both literally pence), and almost too many records to mention. Though I will mention Here, My Dear by Marvin Gaye, Island Life by Grace Jones, and Black Moses by Isaac Hayes.
Anyway, the reason I’m thinking about charity shops specifically now is because last week I was rifling through some old ideas and I stumbled across a corker I’d mostly forgotten about. A gameshow called Charity Shop Challenge that I pitched to a TV bod in around 2014. We had an exciting meeting, they said all the right things while I made all the right facial expressions. Then like a sandcastle at high tide it all seemed to suddenly disintegrate down to practically nothing. Just the memory of a brilliant thing that once was.
Here’s the idea as it was twelve years ago. If you ask me it’s still got (what I like to call) legs.
Charity Shop Challenge - an idea from January 2014 by Josh Burt... (that never got made)
Charity Shop Challenge: the ultimate second-hand gameshow
At a time when belts are tightening, let’s celebrate second-hand shops! … with a weekly show that takes place all around the UK, in a different charity shop each episode.
THE FORMAT
The Charity Shop profile – a lowdown of that week’s shop and the charity it represents.
This week’s charity shop outfit – our expert stylist has scoured the shop for an excellent outfit for the host to wear for the show. They are presented with it and head off to the in-store changing rooms, before emerging in their dazzling new (second-hand) clobber.
The Set-Up - within the charity shop, there’s a selection of HIDDEN TREASURES, which have all been planted there, all of different value and with their prices fabricated. Examples of these treasures might be an expensive Vivienne Westwood gown, or an early promo tape by Oasis, or an original piece of art by Banksy, or a surprisingly valuable tea set. The twist is, they’re all just nestled in with the usual stuff and a few red herrings. Hidden in plain sight.
The Game - it’s then the job of two couples to scour the shop to unearth these treasures. Our host and an expert guest will be on hand to oversee their hunt around the shop, providing their own commentary on proceedings.
The History Lesson – an entertaining and enlightening history lesson will be interspersed into proceedings, in which the valuable items are each profiled - explaining what makes them such magnificent finds.
The endgame – the couples eventually choose three items to take to the till and explain their choices. The couple with the most valuable shopping basket wins... and they proceed to this week’s GRAND FINALE.
The Grand Finale - the victorious couple has two items presented to them and put on display, one being the ULTIMATE HIDDEN TREASURE, the other being a normal item from the shop. Their challenge is to guess which item is of the greatest value. If they guess correctly, they win the cash equivalent of the item. If they lose they go home with a £7 voucher for the shop.
I think we need to make this thing. Someone get an exec in the blower!