Help the Aged is the most modern of the triumvirate of charity shops which reign at the lower end of the High Street (the Red Cross further up rarely had any books worth sniffing at and are now shut)and keep anyone sensible out of the second hand book trade in this part of Walthamstow. Their book selection is often more interesting than at Oxfam, and Crest,just over the road, though they tend to be more expensive on like for like items.

As well as the books, they have racks of clothes laid out in a spacious, light and airy environment. They also offer people who use their shop, useful advice cards on practical topics, specific advice on making wills and advertise a freephone Welfare advice line. (0808-800-6565).

A poster advises customers to beware of pickpockets. (Perhaps I'm naive and ill-informed but its my impression that this is not a common crime in this or any part of Walthamstow. Our thieves seem to be a bit less artful and more up-front about taking what does not belong to them: in 2005-6 there were apparently 10.78 robberies per thousand people in Waltham Forest, considerably above the national average).

On the whole the shop is well laid out and does what I expect in a charity shop- sells its donations for charity and serves the less fortunate in its locality while acting as an access point to information about services and what is going on.

They do not offer much in the way of local 'community' involvement - they don't advertise local artistic endeavors like Crest do, for instance, or demonstrate their work with the elders of Walthamstow. Apart from a poster about Magic taxis and one sponsored by Toyota asking drivers to use their mirrors, Help the Aged seem to want to present themselves more as concerned with the international scene than helping the aged in the UK. A poster indicating that there is an appeal for people hit by floods in Asia catches the eye at the entrance, though it might be nice to know exactly where in Asia they are referring to. I am more likely to give when people are being specific about what they want to spend my money on.

This doesn't mean one needs to worry. Everything is ethical, I'm sure. This is reinforced by the sign in the window, which tells us that they adhere to the 'Code of Charity Retailing' and are a Member of the Association of Charity Shops. It all sounds very professional. They have a refund policy clearly advertised by the till offering an exchange within 28 days if the goods are returned with a receipt. [This does not affect your statutory rights].

In addition to the donated items in the store and their regular stock, Help the Aged has a home shopping service and sells vouchers for Christmas gifts - a fiver will buy a live chicken for a farmer somewhere in the third world. Am I the only person who thinks this astonishingly expensive? I assume that admin costs for this scheme will be minimal and its not about creating expensive jobs in the UK. So, if farmers were buying chickens at these prices locally, how would they add value and make a profit? I have to ask- is Help the Aged driving up prices, or are they being ripped off? Not yet knowing the answers, and not wishing to upset the precarious economic balance of some desperately poor place, the cataract operation for a tenner seems a better idea to me.