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The best charity shops in Kingston upon Thames (plus bonus Ham visit)

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Kingston upon Thames is one of London’s nicest areas. This is due in no small part to being on the River Thames: there’s always something special about places by the water… It’s a little self-contained enclave, half an hour from Central London (trains depart from Waterloo station every 12 minutes or so), with its own distinct atmosphere.

There’s a plethora of very nice shops, and even more places to eat. I’ve written about Comptoir Libanais and Nakos, but there’s so much more. Truly, if you want to eat your way around the world, Kingston is even better than Lower Marsh.

Kingston is a comparatively well off place – the average property price is around ¾ of a million pounds – so the thrifting must be quite good, right? And it’s a compact, easily walkable area, kinda like Pimlico, but with added river… Could it possibly get nicer than that?

Well, the charity shops of Kingston upon Thames are a bit of a mixed bag, but the ones that are good are extremely good.

Kingston Charity Shops 1

So here’s a guide to the best charity shops in Kingston upon Thames. And you probably know the drill by now – these are all the Kingston charity shops (at time of writing), not just the best charity shops. Hey, you could say they’re all the best in their own way, right?

Best charity shop in Kingston for designer finds: Princess Alice Hospice on Clarence Street

2 Clarence St, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1PB

If you want to support the Princess Alice charity with your thrifting, Kingston is the place to go! There are no less than 3 Princess Alice Foundation branches, including a large furniture one. But let’s start with this one, which has a carefully curated selection of clothes, many of them designer brands. Some of them are so high-end, in fact, they are actually chained to the rails!

And it’s very easy to find: it’s opposite a large branch of John Lewis/ Waitrose, a stone throw from the riverside.

Kingston Charity Shops 3

Best charity shop in Kingston for vintage finds and craft supplies: Princess Alice Hospice on Old London Road

27 Old London Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT2 6ND

The other two Princess Alice shops are both on Old London Road. You’ll find the street easily enough: just look for the row of collapsing telephone boxes. And, no, they won’t have been fixed by the time you visit, because they are actually a piece of street art by David Mach.

The first one is on a corner, and it’s a large space dedicated to furniture and homewares. A lot of it in vintage or retro, and there are also a couple of rails of vintage and retro clothing, plus a sizeable selection of craft supplies (mainly for knitting and sewing). There are some fantastic bargains to be had in there…

Kingston Charity Shops 5 1

Best charity shop in Kingston for the whole family: the other Princess Alice Hospice on Old London Road

34-36 Old London Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT2 6QF

A few doors away, on the other side of the street, you’ll find the third Princess Alice shop in Kingston. With lots of clothes, plus more homewares, and an extensive children’s section, it’s a one-stop shop.

Kingston Charity Shops 7 1

Best charity shop in Kingston for a huge selection: British Heart Foundation

10 Alderman Judge Mall, Eden Walk, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1BS

The British Heart Foundation charity shop in Kingston is massive (certainly by UK charity shops standards), and they sell pretty much everything: clothes, shoes, bags, furniture, homewares, kids stuff, basically everything you’d expect a charity shop to sell. Prices are pretty reasonable and a couple of locked display cases hold higher value items. Dig around, and you’ll probably find some treasures (I found a black vintage wool coat for £30)!

Kingston Charity Shops 2

Best charity shop in Kingston for books: Oxfam Bookshop

30 Old London Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT2 6QF

Oxfam bookshops are usually pretty good, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Nice selection of vintage books. Plus it’s practically next door to the 2 Princess Alice on Old London Road, so very easy to pop into…

Kingston Charity Shops 6 1

Best all-rounders charity shop in Kingston: the rest

Oxfam, 17 High St, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1LL

Oxfam, 16 Castle St, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1SS

Cancer Research UK, 12 Fife Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1SZ

Vision Foundation, 4 Thames St, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1PE

There are four more charity shops in Kingston, and I’m going to group them together, because they are actually quite similar.

First, in addition to the aforementioned bookshop, Oxfam has two more branches in Kingston, one in the city centre and one a bit further away, on the High Street, just beyond the Clattern Bridge that goes over the Hogsmill river.

Fun fact! The Clattern Bridge is one of the oldest bridges still surviving in England: its foundations were built in the 12th century.

Another fun fact! Just before the Clattern Bridge, in the grounds of the Guildhall, you can peek at the Coronation Stone. This is all that survives from the chapel of St Mary, which stood next to the (still standing) All Saints Church in Kingston town centre. It’s believed that St Mary was the coronation site for seven Anglo-Saxon kings, back in the mist of times (well, the 10th century).

So if you enjoy a helping of history with your shopping, Kingston is a pretty good place to visit.

Anyway, back to thrifting.

The Oxfam shop by the Hogsmill has a nice assortment of the usual stuff: apparel, books, homewares, etc. I saw some nice vintage pieces in the bric-a-brac section when I was there.

The other Oxfam shop, in the town centre, is similar. The space is neat and clean and a bit featureless, but there’s plenty of space to move around (not always a given in charity shops).

Also in the town centre, the Cancer research branch feels very similar to Oxfam.

And finally, the Vision Foundation shop is a bright well-organised space on two floors (women’s apparel on the ground floor, men’s and homewares upstairs).

Best charity shops in Kingston: all the addresses in a handy table

Clicking on the shop name will open their website. Clicking on the address will open the Google Map location.

Princess Alice Hospice34-36 Old London Rd,KT2 6QF
Princess Alice Hospice

2 Clarence St,KT1 1P

Princess Alice Hospice

27 Old London Rd, KT2 6ND

Oxfam

16 Castle St,KT1 1SS

Oxfam

17 High St,KT1 1LL

Oxfam Bookshop

30 Old London Rd,KT2 6QF

British Heart Foundation Home and Fashion Store

10 Alderman Judge Mall,Eden Walk,KT1 1BS

Vision Foundation

4 Thames St,KT1 1PE

Cancer Research UK

12 Fife Rd,KT1 1SZ

Bonus charity shopping: thrifting in Ham

Kingston Charity Shops 8

I was in Ham to visit the Hanzel & Pretzel German delicatessen and the Swiss Bread Bakery, so of course I popped into the charity shops on the way. There are 3 of them, all three on Upper Ham Road, and they’re pleasingly jumbly (that’s a word, right?), in a good way. So if you love good old-fashioned charity shops, I’d recommend a visit.

Princess AliceParade, 313 Richmond Rd, Ham, KT2 5QU
Mind27-29 Upper Ham Rd, KT2 5QX
Animal Protection4 Parkleys Parade, TW10 5LF

How to get to the Ham charity shops from Kingston

  • Bus 65 towards Ealing Broadway. Get off at ham Parade.

  • Bus 371 towards Richmond. Get off at Richmond Road.

  • Bus K5 towards Ham

Best charity shops in Kingston upon Thames: useful information

How to get to Kingston upon Thames

Kingston is about half an hour by train from central London. Trains depart from Waterloo every few minutes through the day. They also go through Clapham junction and Wimbledon (with correspondingly shorter journey times).

Kingston is in Zone 6, so you can use Pay As You Go or a travelcard.



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Where to go from there?

If you’re hungry after all that shopping, why not treat yourself to a mezze platter in Comptoir Libanais or pancakes in Nakos?

If you want more thrifting, here’s a guide to the charity shops of Pimlico, and one to the charity shops of Battersea. You need to get off at Clapham Junction for those one, so it’s just a few stops on the train into Central London.


If you enjoyed this, please like or share. Thank you!