Spring is in the air and many of us may be thinking of spring cleaning and donating things to one of our local charity shops.

I love a charity shop – it’s such a great place to grab a bargain, support a good cause and keep things out of landfill. You never quite know what you are going to find.

I think these days preloved and charity shopping has become more fashionable. There was a time when I was young people would avoid them. It wasn't “cool” to admit that you bought second hand.

Nowadays we have a cost-of-living crisis and climate change so we need to save money and the planet where we can.

Recently on Radio Woking I spoke to charity shop manager Catlin Bren.

Catlin takes to TikTok to give an insight into daily charity shop life and has become famous for her “donation of the day” videos highlighting the strange things people donate.

Catlin caught my attention after speaking up about how much she hated DVD discs when they end up in her donations. She told me that whilst they do sell they don't generate much money, with a DVD selling for around 20p.

She also she finds that people buy a few DVDs but many more get donated so end up taking up space in her stockroom. The discs and cases are also hard to recycle, despite saving scratched discs for people's craft projects.

Catlin is passionate about sustainability - she also works in a recycling centre so is always keen keep things out of landfill.

There is still a love for DVDs for many of us – a cheaper alternative to paying a monthly subscription, and you have a physical copy of your favourite film you can watch any time, even if the streaming service decides to remove it.

Somehow it feels comforting owning the movie as a physical copy, an idea lot of people are returning to these days.

Catlin’s TikTok videos are so insightful – we see how people are donating items such as leggings with holes in them, used socks and hair brushes.

She has even uncovered somebody's wedding speech and once was gifted a whole raw roast dinner in a bin bag. It makes you wonder what goes through people's heads!

Some of the items that are donated have to end up in the bin and that in turn impacts the charity financially, or means Catlin has to take stuff to the tip in her spare time.

Catlin's message is simple: if you’re planning on donating items to a charity shop ask yourself, “would I give this to a friend?”

If the answer is no then it’s likely the charity shop won't want it either.

Hear my chat with Catlin on my podcast page https://jonandrews01.podbean.com and follow her on TikTok Catlinmariebren

Listen to my radio shows on Radio Woking: Sunday 9am to noon, Wednesday 7am to 9am.

You can hear Emma and I on Surrey Hills Community Radio every second Monday at 9pm and Life on the Edge with Edge Disability Consultancy airs every first Monday at 10am.

Send me a voice note – www.speakpipe.com/jonandrews or email [email protected]