National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) has cut the ribbon on a new charity shop in Skibbereen, with a modernised, sustainable fit-out. The NCBI Skibbereen team welcomed Ballymaloe’s Darina Allen to open the shop.

Ms Allen, who was admiring of the new store, praised the NCBI for their work with people who are blind or vision-impaired.

“How about this for a chic charity shop?” Ms Allen asked. “I’m a real charity shop nerd and I’ve been to many of the charity shops when I visit Skibbereen, so I was delighted to see such a queue outside the door. There’s an extra feel-good factor about buying pre-loved and making it re-loved.”

Speaking about NCBI’s service offering, Ms Allen said: “Do spread the word to people, because there are all of these wonderful supports for people who are blind or vision-impaired.

“NCBI has a constant need for volunteers and those of us who volunteer for different things realise that we get much more from it than we give!’

NCBI is the national sight-loss organisation, and provides support, rehabilitation services, and other training to help people with sight loss to live independently.

Beverley Scallan, head of retail at NCBI, said that Skibbereen is the “perfect place” for NCBI to bolster its supports and services for people who are blind or vision-impaired.

“As with all our recent new openings, NCBI Skibbereen will follow the trend in our journey to challenge perceptions of what a charity shop should look like with our new, sustainable fit-out,” she said.

“Skibbereen will also be at the forefront of championing the quality of the pre-loved clothing, accessories, and more which NCBI has to offer, a model which also contributes to our goal to be as environmentally friendly and as sustainable as possible.

“We look forward to becoming a cornerstone of the Skibbereen community, where locals can shop, donate, and volunteer, whilst simultaneously raising funds to support life-changing services for people who are blind or vision-impaired.”