CHARITY shops are expecting an influx of donations as they begin to reopen.

After three months of lockdown, many residents who have been clearing out their homes will finally be able to make donations to stores, but there are a number of restrictions in place.

Mind has already reopened its stores in St James’s Street, Brighton, and Church Road in Hove.

Doris Chuang, manager at the Hove store, said her volunteers had been “extremely busy” since the shop reopened on Monday.

She said: “Donations have just been coming in faster and faster. On the first few days we had people ringing a lot, but they know we only have limited storage here.

“We are quarantining items for 72 hours and we constantly have someone near the door to make sure we only have four customers in at a time.

“The most important thing is to make sure they feel safe.”

Oxfam is reopening its book shop in Blatchington Road, Hove, and stores in Steyning, Haywards Heath and Hastings on Tuesday.

The reopening date for its stores in Brighton has not yet been announced.

The charity will also be isolating donated items for 72 hours before sorting them, and changing rooms will be closed.

Fee Gilfeather, head of audience and strategic planning at Oxfam, said: “From a shopper perspective I think people can expect to find some really great treasures to buy, because everybody’s had a lockdown clear-out.

“I think charity shops are going to be full of some really great gems that people have cleared out of their homes.”

Customers are advised to check with Oxfam shops in advance about the best time to drop off donations and to make sure clothing has been cleaned and items wiped down.

Donations are welcome but the charity has said shops will have reduced opening hours to allow for deep cleaning.

Emmaus in Portslade has also reopened its secondhand superstore, greenhouse and bedroom store with new opening hours, from 10am until 4pm every day, except Sundays and Mondays.

The charity is “gratefully receiving drop-off donations of small items of furniture and houseware” but is not accepting sofas, large furniture items or toys.

Martlets is also set to open its store in Peacehaven on Tuesday, as part of a “cautious, phased approach” to reopening its nine shops in Sussex. The Peacehaven store will not be accepting donations, but certain items can now be dropped off to the Martlets warehouse in Old Shoreham Road in Hove.

The charity is only taking clothing and accessories, small items of furniture, wooden and plastic toys, vinyl records, bric-a-brac, homeware and working electrical items with relevant accessories. Donors should put items in a bag they are happy to leave so items can be quarantined, but large items of furniture, books, CDs and DVDs cannot be accepted.

It was announced earlier this month that charity shops have struck a deal with a youth programme to help fill up to 95,000 volunteer roles as the sector recovers from the pandemic.

More volunteers will be needed due to the expected influx of donations and also due to many current volunteers being in the vulnerable category and possibly shielding.

The National Citizen Service (NCS) is partnering with charity shops for the first phase of its One Million Hours of Doing Good campaign, which will encourage those aged between 16 and 18 to transform their “summer of disappointment” through volunteering.

It estimates around 100,000 teenagers could engage with the programme, based on the uptake of previous schemes, but hopes more will take part given the disruption of normal activities.