Sheffield charity shop helps feed and transform the lives of hundreds of children around the world

Wendy Holmes, aged 77, and her sister Cynthia Goodison founded the charity shop Your Kids Around the World on Chesterfield Road, Woodseats in 2009, and last week moved to a larger premises down the street.

The charity has so far raised more than £360,000 for children’s homes in the The Philippines and China, helping to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged children.

Now with a larger premises, Wendy is appealing for more volunteers to support the store and the good work that it does globally.

Wendy said: “We have wonderful team of volunteers. We have loyal customers who love coming in and say that we are the friendliest shop that there is.

"We have a cleaner, better shop, it is more beautifully lit, warmer and has a much better display. We can display three times as much stock, and we hope to increase our revenue.

“We find that we get plenty of donations, but we are a little bit short of volunteers, we could use more. We ask for volunteers to do a three hour shift, 10am-1pm or 1pm-4pm."

Wendy first went to the Philippines in 1989 to stay with a missionary family whilst working at a children’s home, where she found 18 children staying in a dilapidated building.

She was invited to have a meal with the family, but when only four people sat down at the table, she realised that the children could not afford to eat every day. One of the women told her: “We ate yesterday, maybe we will eat tomorrow.”

At that point Wendy thought: “I can’t change the world, but I can make sure that 18 children eat every day.”

In the following years Wendy and her sister raised money through events such as car boot sales, and were eventually able to help build a new children’s home for 100 people in The Philippines.

Cynthia suggested they open a charity shop, and now Your Kids Around the World supports three children's homes in the Philippines and a home for severely disabled children in China.

Wendy added: “These children were all in a children’s home with very little hope. We are currently supporting a young lady who is training to be a nurse. A boy, Ronnie who was six when we met him became a mechanical engineer. One girl, who came to the home aged 13 desired to be a midwife and we were able to pay for her go to college and she is now a senior midwife.

"These individual lives have been changed. It is much more rewarding than saying we have raised this much money. We are supporting about 300 children through the homes.”

The home in Hengyang, China is for orphaned and abandoned disabled children and Wendy said that one child taken in by the home was found in a basket on the edge of a river, like Moses.

She said: “Instead of laying in a cot and being lucky if they live to five years old, those children are now in wheelchairs or walking on crutches. It is rewarding to see that money can change lives.

"Faith is the crux of everything we do. All the trustees are committed Christians, but we have volunteers of any faith and none, and we send money to children of any faith or none. Jesus said love one another and treat people as yourself.”

The shop sells lots of baby equipment and clothing for young children as well as the usual items found in charity shops, and all of the money raised through the charity goes to supporting the children’s homes and other charitable enterprises.

Your Kids Around the World also supports a hospital ship, African Mercy, which is staffed entirely by volunteers and performs free operations for people living in West Africa.

Among those who support the charity shop is one mystery donor who posts an envelope through their door most weekends, containing notes of encouragement for the staff and some money.

Some of the notes left by the good Samaritan have read: “Love the work you do”, “Please don’t stop what you’re doing in this area – you’re such an insipration”, and “Looking forward to seeing your new shop”.