A charity shop worker has shown us behind the scenes at one of Exeter's busiest charity shops and - reveals now is the time to grab a designer bargain.

Instead of binning or selling their unwanted designer goods, it’s becoming more and more common for students to donate the things they no longer need to the closest charity shop when they head home for summer.

With more than 23,000 students at the University of Exeter alone, it’s hardly surprising that charity shops are being inundated with a huge amount of high-quality goods around this time of the year.

Don’t worry if you can’t get down to the shops in time to grab the goodies as most charity shops sell their top designer and collectible goods on E-Bay – but be prepared for a bidding war.

The British Heart Foundation on Fore Street receive on average 500 bags full of donations every week, just from their temporary donation bins dotted in several locations across the Exeter University halls and buildings – but this number can reach 700 at peak times.

This year, they have nine donation banks, eight donation boxes and three larger donation points in university and private student accommodation, and a further two private locations – bringing the total to 22 collection points throughout Exeter university.

Store manager, Josephine Cooper, said: “This year has been our best year yet for good quality donations.

“Thanks to the resurgence of 90s sportswear, we’re getting a lot of vintage items in – including pieces from Adidas among other well-known brands.

“We recently got a brand-new pair of Dr. Martens dropped in – we were able to sell them online for £30!”

Cancer Research UK pride themselves as the ‘Cheapest Charity Shop on the High Street’ as they sell almost all their goods for under £3 - apart from their golden rail in the middle of the shop.

Shop manager Emily added: “This is hands down the best time of the year for donations – we receive a huge number of designer clothes, shoes and accessories.

“Some of the amazing things we’ve received this year alone include a Burberry coat and a Calvin Klein coat among a huge amount of electricals, especially TV’s.”

By Wednesday this week alone, they had received over 200 bags from university students and they’re due another collection on Friday.

Not only do the donations come in thick and fast, but a huge amount of them are actually great quality, designer goods.

Lining the rails are huge brands such as Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, North Face, Armani, Ted Baker and Converse being sold for a fraction of the price.

Not all charity shops seem to be a hit with student donations, but their presence in the city is still hugely welcomed.

Liz Morrish from Age UK said: “We used to get a lot more donations around this time, but it hasn’t been so good in the past few years.

“The students being here is great though because they’re always in buying costumes for their weekly socials – they're nothing but polite and always have a laugh.

“We always get the young men in here with their friends buying skirts and dresses to wear on their nights out – it's great!”

Not only do donations spike thanks to students, but, come September, the amount of sales rises too – all thanks to freshers wanting to grab a house-warming bargain for their new homes.

‘Fast fashion’ is also having a huge impact on charity shop donations – with items from online stores such as Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing taking up a huge proportion of the rails.

Students are attracted to the cheap, mass produced clothes as they fit the fashion trends and are suitable to only be worn once or twice before being thrown in the bin – a trend which has been the centre of many environmentalist protests recently.

Josephine said: “We have to sort through all the bags and sort the high-quality clothing from the lower quality, high street brands such as Primark.

“As much as we appreciate all our donations, we are able to sell brands like Marks and Spencer’s and Next for a higher price, alongside the designer and boutique clothing.

“Unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of donations we get, we don’t have time to sew buttons back on or to wash dirty clothes, so we end up giving a lot of our stock to a textiles recycling company we work closely with.

“They recycle all of the items we give them – even sending some clothing to third world countries.”

Not only are students a huge source of income for high street charity shops, they also have no issues with investing their time in volunteering. People from all lines of work and walks of life are invited to volunteer – if you would be interested in donating goods or time, please get in touch with the charity of your choice.