From a quiet newcomer to a voice for public health—how one student grows in a charity store, writes Ding Shali.

What if your next thrift shop visit could help fund life-saving research? What if it also gave someone the courage to find her voice in a new country?

These are not hypotheticals for Bell Backer, now a 23-year-old biomedical sciences student at Imperial College London. For her, a British Heart Foundation (BHF) charity shop was more than just a workplace—it was where her life in the UK truly began.

“When I moved from China to UK at 15, I didn’t know how to fit in,” she said in our interview. “I was quiet, unsure, and too shy to even say hello to classmates. Volunteering gave me a way to connect with people again.”

At 16, Bell joined her local British Heart Foundation charity shop as a volunteer assistant. From September 2019 to March 2021, she spent her weekends working the till, steaming donated clothes, tagging prices, and learning how to smile at strangers.

“I thought I was just helping sort clothes,” she said, laughing. “But soon I realised I was part of something much more meaningful.”

Heart disease is the UK’s number one killer. In 2022 alone, more than 39,000 people in England died prematurely of cardiovascular conditions—an average of 750 lives lost every week, according to the BHF. But not every battle is fought in a hospital. Sometimes, it begins in a high street charity shop.

The BHF runs over 700 charity shops across the UK. These stores play a critical role in the fight against heart disease, they aim to fund approximately £100 million of research each year into heart and circulatory diseases. But their impact goes beyond pounds and pence.

“We had brochures about heart health on the counter,” Bell explained. “Sometimes people just picked one up while browsing and ended up learning about stroke symptoms or blood pressure without even meaning to.”

On one particularly cold winter morning, Bell remembers an elderly man entering the shop without a coat. “He was shivering. Then he found a thick jacket on sale for just ten pounds. When he paid, he told me, ‘This coat is a lifesaver.’ And that hit me—this shop really matters to people.”

The store functioned on public donations — clothes, books, electronics, even furniture. These were resold at affordable prices. Items were cleaned, sorted, and resold at affordable prices.

“It’s a win-win,” Bell said. “We helped reduce landfill waste, made basic goods accessible to low-income families, and supported life-saving research. I never expected second-hand goods could have such a wide-reaching impact.”

While Bell was helping others, she also underwent a quiet transformation of her own.

“I used to be afraid to talk to strangers,” she admitted. “English wasn’t my first language, and I was always worried about making a mistake.”

But in the shop, she had to speak up—to explain prices, answer questions, or simply greet customers. Slowly, her fear began to fade.

“In the shop, I learned how to answer questions, deal with unexpected problems, even calm down a stressed customer. Those experiences gave me communication skills—and courage—that school never taught me.” She also built friendships with other volunteers, regular shoppers, and staff members who encouraged her growth.

However, you may ask, can a second-hand charity goods shop really help fight heart disease?

Bell’s answer is firm. “Absolutely. Every shirt we sell supports someone’s research. Every brochure picked up might save someone’s life. You don’t need a stethoscope to be part of this mission.”

Her eyes lit up as she continued, “A charity shop may look ordinary, but what happens inside—conversations, donations, small gestures—can ripple out in ways we can’t always see. It’s about creating hope, one item at a time.”

“You don’t need a lab coat to save lives,” Bell said with a smile. “Sometimes, all it takes is kindness, commitment, and folding shirts with purpose. And that’s where real change begins.”