Where to take your pre-loved goods
NORTHCLIFF – The Curiosity Shop owner shares the story of how being a baby boomer and hoarder got him into charity.
Leon de Villiers, a self-proclaimed hoarder and baby boomer, has settled into the location of his charity shop, The Curiosity Shop.
In an interview with Northcliff Melville Times, De Villiers explained that being a baby boomer, he was always taught to collect items of use as there was no money after World War II to buy much of anything.
“I had two storage units full of stuff. Just stuff. I didn’t know half of the things I had. Working for SAA at the time, it was easy to transport the things I collected while I travelled,” De Villiers said.
He explained that at some point in his life, he worked for a charity but didn’t foresee opening his own charity shop.
“I thought, what would I do with all this stuff I had? I didn’t like the idea of going into the second-hand goods business and I thought, ‘why not open a charity shop’?” he laughed.
De Villiers later opened a charity shop on Beyers Naudé Drive in Northcliff. He and Laura De Sousa man the shop and have been at their large location for over 14 months.
“Laura does all the important things at the shop, the things that need to be done and I… Well, I do all the odd jobs.”
The shop itself is not a charity but a registered non-profit company called The White Elephant Charity Organisation (Tweco). The company collects funds for various charities and occasionally gets involved with special projects to help those less fortunate.
He said they welcome community members donating their pre-loved items to be sold in the shop and said they also do collections for those unable to transport unwanted goods.
“If anyone feels they would like their donations or funds to go to a charity that we don’t already support, then we make contact with them to set it up. We only do this for registered organisations.”
He said since their opening, they have received a lot of support from the community which he and De Sousa appreciate as the more people support, the more charities can benefit.
For more information about Tweco and The Curiosity Shop, contact them on 011 888 0707.
