This year marked significant milestones within the charity retail sector for Chair of Traid’s Board of Trustees and the founding Director of the Charity Retail Association, Lekha Klouda, with both organisations celebrating their 25th anniversaries.  With extensive experience in the sector, from her early days as an Administrator at the Charities Advisory Trust to her voluntary leadership roles today, we are celebrating Lekha’s contribution and impact that has helped to shape the charity retail landscape and our work at Traid. In a special conversation we sat down with Lekha to find out more about her work and passion for charity retail.

Lekha Klouda, Chair of Traid’s Board of Trustees and the founding Director of the Charity Retail Association. Image courtesy of the Charity Retail Association.

Why have you dedicated your career to the charity retail sector? 

I have always had a commitment to the charity sector. After a period working for the Charities Advisory Trust, which supported and advised charities in a number of ways, I became the convenor of a group called the Charity Shops Group. This brought together many charities operating shops to discuss issues of common interest. 

The more I got to know about charity shops, the more I wanted to promote their contributions not only in raising money for many good causes but also to sustainability and the environment, having always been keen on the ‘make do and mend’ approach and being keen to avoid waste. This led eventually to the setting up of what is now the Charity Retail Association (previously the Association of Charity Shops). I continue to be a great supporter of the sector and indeed visited three charity shops this morning to buy some second-hand toys for my grandchildren!  

How did your work at the CRA lead you to join Traid on the Board and as Chair?  

I became aware of Traid and its unique charity shops early in my career with the ACS (now the CRA). I met Maria Chenoweth, who was then relatively new as Traid’s Chief Executive, and visited the shops which were different to the majority of charity shops on the high street. I invited Maria to speak at one of the annual conferences of the Association and she in turn put me in touch with Wayne Hemingway who was a guest speaker at an early conference of the Association speaking about his long passion for second-hand shopping and charity shops. So, it seemed a natural progression when I was asked to join Traid as a Trustee after my retirement from the Association in 2010.

Do you have any favorite moments supporting Traid?

I have always admired the way in which Traid is nimble in responding to changes in the market environment and able to bring in new initiatives to move the charity forward. That is not something every organisation can do, and it is a tribute to the talents of the senior leadership of the organisation. 

I have many good moments to look back on – meeting the shop and warehouse team at fun staff parties, visiting the warehouse in action, supporting the focus of our international project work to tackle some of the worst impacts of the clothing/fashion sector and encouraging Maria to take on further studies for her MBA. Seeing Traid’s work in action as well as knowing more about the projects we support in Africa and Asia has always been an uplifting and positive experience.  

How does it feel for both Traid and the CRA to turn 25 knowing that you’ve played a pivotal role in impacting both organisations? 

I really don’t like to dwell on my personal contribution to either Traid or the CRA! Both organisations have had the support and input of many talented people over the years, and I’ve just helped along the way. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to meet many interesting, likeable, motivated, hard-working and gifted people working within Traid and the charity retail sector generally and have benefited from these interactions. I am fortunate to have had these experiences!   

What do you see as Traid’s greatest successes over the years? 

Raising awareness in the UK of the damaging impacts of the fashion industry and providing practical and attractive opportunities to shop sustainably; introducing and expanding the home collections service; supporting the growth of organic cotton production in Africa as well as other projects to ameliorate the worst impacts of the fashion industry on its workers and the environment.

Where would you like to see the future of charity retail? 

Continuing to promote sustainable shopping to help minimise the negative environmental impacts of ever-increasing consumer spending and excessive waste, whilst raising money for good causes. Make shopping second-hand as popular as shopping new!