Inishowen Charity Shop forced to close despite raising thousands for good causes

An Inishowen woman who has raised thousands for local and national charities has announced she will close her charity shop after two and a half years, citing rising costs and dwindling footfall.

Caroline Lynch, who runs Good as New from the side of her home in Ballyliffin, says the economic climate and the growing dominance of online shopping have made it impossible to keep her doors open.

“The way the economic climate is at this minute in time, it's just not feasible to stay open,” Caroline said. “I get plenty of support with donations — I’m fully loaded up — but it’s just getting the customers to come in and buy.”

Despite stocking high-quality items and offering rock-bottom prices in recent months, Caroline says the local support simply hasn’t been enough to keep the shop afloat.

“Everybody that comes in tells me I’ve got good products,” she said. “I think the charity shops will be a thing of the past eventually, because people can buy so cheaply online now. There are too many cheap online sites — people just sit at home and order from their phone. I have been open two and a half years, and it's just getting worse and worse.”

Since opening, Good as New has raised over €8,500 for several good causes, including the BUMBLEance children’s ambulance service, the Galway Cancer Care Bus, the local community centre, and, most recently, the Lough Swilly RNLI.

“I wanted to keep it local and support charities that really need the help,” Caroline explained. “I used BUMBLEance because it is a service that is used a lot here in Donegal for sick children travelling to Dublin or Cork and other places.”

However, despite her fundraising success, the lack of footfall in Ballyliffin has taken its toll.

“I’m out in the middle of nowhere,” she said. “It’s a small village, and I just feel like it’s not in the right place. I tried to get premises in Buncrana and Carndonagh, but rents were nearly £1,000 a week or nothing available at all — no charity could afford that.”

The charity shop owner said she is disappointed that someone is “independently trying to do something for the community, but nobody is willing to help you stay open.”

“People are very generous. I got a lot of very good quality stuff, which I'm giving away practically now at very rock-bottom prices compared to what I should be getting really for it, because there's some really good stuff, labelled items and branded products.”

“I'm just giving it away, three tops or trousers are three for €5. Dresses and coats are also going at two for €5. I can't possibly go any lower than that. I have had a sale for the last month, but still, I can't seem to get anybody to come in to support the shop.”

Only recently, Caroline took in just €25 over four days, a figure she says makes continuing no longer sustainable.

“I don’t take expenses out of the business, but the price of electricity is another problem,” Caroline said. “There's no help or support for anybody. Small businesses are being pushed out because they just can’t afford to keep going.”

This isn’t Caroline’s first community project to struggle. In 2022, she ran a café at Malin Head Community Centre for a year before having to close due to a lack of support and high costs.

Good as New will remain open throughout November before closing its doors for the final time. Caroline is encouraging locals to visit in the coming weeks, with all proceeds going to the Lough Swilly RNLI.

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Meanwhile, IWA (Irish Wheelchair Association) has expressed its sincere thanks to Susanne Burns and all the Volunteers, who helped run a ‘Pop-Up Charity Shop in Moville, over a 6-week period. The proceeds from the shop were donated to IWA Donegal.