Clothing swap shop makes an immediate impact

SWISHING – a new credit-crunch-beating craze sweeping the nation – came to Lostwithiel on Saturday.

A tongue-in-cheek poster saying "no fighting" was placed on the wall of the empty shop where 40 women eyed-up clothing they wanted to swap for their own.

'Swishers' at the charity clothes swap event on Fore Street in Lostwithiel hunting out items to exchange.
Swishing event organisers who were delighted at the turnout for the charity clothes swap event.

After an hour admiring the items on show on rails, trying on clothes and shoes and inspecting jewellery, they were told to put their selected items back.

Organiser Helen Terry, 54, said: "They all put the things back and then, to their horror, we muddled them all up so they couldn't put things by in specific places.

"It gave everyone a fair chance to get something they wanted then.

"We said no fighting over clothing – it was meant to be a fun event and they were brilliant and did it in the right spirit.

"It has been great fun and we hope to have raised a lot for charity – we had 40 people come along and they each paid £5 and brought along a minimum of two items for the rail. Then they chose something they would like to take home."

Helen held the event in her soon-to-be shop on Fore Street which currently stands empty.

The charities she decided on are Help For Heroes which raises money for people who were injured while in the armed forces or families who lost loved ones, and Cornwall Hospice Care.

Helen said: "I chose Help for Heroes as my friend is the mother of Corporal Phil Smith from Lostwithiel who was sadly killed last year on manoeuvres.

"The other charity was Cornwall Hospice Care – they looked after my mother so well and made her very comfortable in her final days at Mount Edgcumbe."

A makeshift changing room had been put up on one side of the shop while women rummaged for bargains in another room.

On the day, Helen was helped by her friends Rita Worswick, Kathryn Brown, Fenella Hawes, Bettina Addington-Smith and Maggie Wombwell.

"Everyone seemed to have found something they liked," said Helen who stood holding a huge bouquet, given to her as a thank you after the mayhem had stopped.

"We got the idea from seeing Twiggy do it on television.

"It looked like fun so we tried it.

"I think I will try to hold another swishing event."

Even after the event had finished, intrigued passers-by continued to go through the rails and make last-minute purchases.