A WOMAN diagnosed with breast cancer had a ‘lightbulb moment’ that led to the opening of her first Wirral pop-up clothes shop in aid of a charity supporting people with the disease.

Nicola Gleave created Worn By Us following a breast cancer diagnosis and a desire to raise money and awareness for charity.

Nicola began asking celebrities to donate fashion items they had worn to raise money for charity. Interest grew, and she started receiving donations of clothing from others who had heard her story.

Worn By Us evolved through the growing interest of individuals who approached Nicola asking her to sell unwanted clothing items on their behalf – sometimes for proceeds to be donated to charity and sometimes for individuals to receive the proceeds, earning some money back from the sale.

Nicola became very interested in the growing narrative of the impact of fashion on the environment and committed to a core purpose to help to keep clothing in use for longer.

Worn By Us, situated in The Pyramids Shopping Centre in Birkenhead, provides services for personal resale, charity resale and services for brands and retailers.

Nicola told the Globe: “We started working with retailers and take some of their end-of-season stock, customer returns and do this on a commercial basis; we give them money back for those items or some retailers donate items to us for the charity.

“The charity we work with in particular is the Pink Ribbon Foundation; a national breast cancer charity.

“We also work with the general public, so people who clear out their wardrobes and don’t have the time or inclination to do anything with it. So, anyone from anywhere in the country can send their clothes to us, free-of-charge – they just get in touch with us and we send them the bags out to fill.

“Then we’ll do all the hardwork; sort the clothes, present the items for listing on the items online and sell the items. We give back 50% of what we sell the item for back to the customer, or they can choose to give it to charity if they wish.

“The initial idea was about six or seven years ago, but that was purely to raise money for charity.

“We’ve got a unit on Price Street in Birkenhead, but have been purely online up until now, but this is our first pop-up shop, which we opened at the beginning of December.

“We are here until the end of January, at least, maybe longer, just seeing how it goes.

“The Pyramids have supported us to set up this pop-up shop. There’s a mixture of stock from retailers which is brand new with tags on and pre-loved items; so that ranges from higher-end high street to designer.”

The shop is run by Liverpool-born Nicola and her Wirral-born husband of 25 years, Andy who live in Prenton. Connor Cullen works with them, listing the items online.

Wirral Globe: Andy, Connor and Nicola at Worn By UsAndy, Connor and Nicola at Worn By Us (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest)

Andy said: “We had 120 people in on the first day, a lot of people have been coming in asking what the shop is.

“The consensus from customers over the last few weeks has been ‘it’s great to see something different in Birkenhead'.

A lot of people have said: ‘I remember Solitaire in Liverpool being like this, because they were really popular, because you’d get new stock, all different types of brands that you won’t see in the shops that are here.

“Our USP (unique selling point) is we’re bringing something different to Wirral; selling designer items that are affordable, people can get the designer items. They are not overly expensive but not cheap, they’re reasonably priced.”

Nicola was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and had an operation and 20 rounds of radiation. She is still on medication, until the end of next year

Being diagnosed and subsequently treated for breast cancer was ‘the lightbulb moment’ that persuaded Nicola, who has a background in business and economic development, to open the pop-up shop.

She explained: "A lot of people have asked if I have always wanted to do this, but to be honest I had never thought about opening a pop-shop or shop before, but opening one after the breast cancer experience was like changing a negative into a positive.

“It was something purposeful. I had a strong network of people and contacts and thought ‘this is the moment where I can change direction and do something I really want to do in life.

“We’re a commercial business, not a charity, but have got a social purpose at our heart.

“That social purpose is combined between raising money for charity but also helping people sell things.”

Worn by Us is located in The Pyramids Shopping Centre between Pandora and Select). Its website is www.wornbyus.com