Huntly charity Gordon Rural Action welcomes public to shop after ‘beautiful’ transformation
A Huntly shop which “looks and feels like a boutique” after a massive refurbishment has opened its doors.
Gordon Rural Action’s (GRA) Charity Shop, which sells a range of used items including clothing, furniture and bric-a-brac, is now a “beautiful” space according to GRA chief officer Emma Selway-Grant.
The store’s “complete overhaul” was the first phase of a major redevelopment at GRA’s base on Gordon Street.
Beginning in April 2024, the full rebuild saw the property stripped back to bare walls, before receiving a new roof, shopfront, sign, wiring, heating, flooring, fixtures and fittings.
Funded by Aberdeenshire Council’s Place Based Investment Programme and The Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation, Emma said she was “very grateful to them for their support” with the project.
“The aim of the renovations was to create a beautiful, environmentally friendly space for the charity shop enabling more volunteering and employment opportunities and also offering good quality second hand items at a great price, and we think that this has been achieved,” Emma said.
“We have had wonderful feedback from the public saying how beautiful the shop frontage is and how it looks and feels like a boutique not a charity shop.
“We also still have a large selection of furniture available in our furniture store at the back, this is not currently accessible due to building work but please ask for what you are looking for and we will do our best to help.”
However, on the day of the shop’s planned reopening on January 7, plans were forced to change when a burst pipe caused the building to flood.
But despite the blow, the charity shop was able to reopen just two days later.
“Thanks to the quick action of staff and volunteers and the support of the public and our contractor Neil Donald Joiners, we were able to clean up very quickly and avoid any major damage,” Emma added.
The reopened charity shop has also extended its opening hours, with the doors now open between 10am on 5pm from Tuesday to Saturday.
However, despite reaching a key milestone, redevelopment efforts at GRA are just getting started.
The second phase is “well underway”, the chief officer said, with an old storeroom and “leaky” corridors being demolished and asbestos being removed.
Work on new premises for GRA’s Baby Bank and Uniform Exchange projects is also ongoing, with framing having already been built.
The charity has also benefited from a new van, for deliveries and collections, funded through a grant from the Robertson Trust and the Clothworkers Trust.
Anybody interested in volunteering in the new charity shop can email GRA at: enquiries@gordonrural.org.uk