AN Ammanford charity shop has raised a remarkable £1.1m for the children’s charity Barnardo’s Cymru, thanks to the shop-keeping skills of manager Sue Langford.

Sue started working at the Ammanford store in 2010 when it was a pop-up shop without any staff and on a six month lease. But from the beginning it proved a success thanks to her energy and determination and now, nine years on, it is easily Barnardo’s top performing store in Wales.

In those nine years Sue and her dedicated team of staff and volunteers have totted up a total profit of £1.1m to support Barnardo’s services for vulnerable children, young people and families.

It raised £184,000 last year alone when the shop was just pipped to the title of best performer among Barnardo’s 700 shops across the UK by a temporary store in Fallowfield which raised £4,000 more.

Now Sue, 56, of Brynamman, has been nominated for the title of Retail Staff Member of the Year in the annual awards run for charity shops across the country by the Charity Retail Association.

Sue said: “I knew it was a risk when I left a safe job in a gift shop for something that might have only lasted six months but I love a challenge and as soon as I walked in the door I knew this was for me.

“Every day is different and I never know what will come in next, that’s what makes if exciting.”

She puts much of the store’s success down to the vast number of donations, around 300-400 bags a week, which allows the team to keep the rails well stocked with the surplus being sent to other shops.

Sue said: “I tell my team not to think of it like a charity shop and think, ‘that’ll do’ but to treat it as a normal retail environment and give the donations the same amount of care and attention as in any other shop.

“We get a lot of regular customers. Some come in every day to make sure they don’t miss a bargain while others who live outside Ammanford make it a regular weekly trip.”

“When I was told how much we had raised since we opened in Ammanford even I went ‘Wow’ but I couldn’t have done it without such a wonderful team. I love coming into work.”

Her manager David Howells said: “Barnardo’s are able to work with some of the most vulnerable families in Wales thanks to the success of its shops and Sue is a remarkable manager who has made a very valuable contribution to that work.

“Her store has become a destination for shoppers who travel miles to visit and she constantly develops the staff and volunteers she works with. We wish her all the very best for the national awards in Nottingham on June 25.”