South East London is quietly one of the best parts of the city for charity shops. Walworth Road alone gives you four of them within a few hundred metres, and as you work your way up towards the river you’ll find everything from a furniture superstore to a beautifully curated boutique on Bermondsey Street.
Here’s the route through SE1 and SE17, with addresses.
Getting there: Start at Elephant & Castle for the Walworth Road shops, then head north-east towards Tower Bridge and Bermondsey. It’s a proper walk, but a rewarding one - or hop on a bus between the clusters.
Walworth Road, SE17: The charity shop crawl
This is the main event. Four charity shops on one road, so you can do the lot without breaking a sweat.
Shop from Crisis, Elephant & Castle
Crisis shops are reliably well-curated, and this one is a great place to start the crawl.
- Address: 223-225 Walworth Road, SE17 1RL (shops details)
Mind Charity Shop
Right next door to Crisis, so there’s no reason not to pop in. Clothes, books, homeware and the usual charity shop lucky dip.
- Address: 229 Walworth Road, SE17 1RL (shop details)
Sense
A little further down the road, the disability charity’s Walworth shop is a solid all-rounder for pre-loved clothing and accessories.
- Address: 329 Walworth Road, SE17 3TG
Visit the shop page to find opening hours.
The Salvation Army
Rounding out the Walworth Road run, and worth a browse for clothing and bric-a-brac.
- Address: 341 Walworth Road, SE17 2AL (shop details)
Old Kent Road: Second-hand furniture at BHF Home
If you’ve just moved into the area and you’re furnishing a flat, this is the one to know about. The British Heart Foundation’s Home Store on Old Kent Road is a proper furniture shop - sofas, beds, tables, wardrobes and larger pieces - rather than a standard high-street charity shop. Far cheaper than buying new, and a lot more character.
- Address: 211-219 Old Kent Road, SE1 5LU (shop details)
Tower Bridge Road: Hotric Charity Shop
A little independent charity shop rather than one of the big chains, which is exactly why it’s worth seeking out. Reviewers consistently mention the friendly staff, the good prices, and the fact that you can reliably turn up gems here. One of the nicer charity shops in this part of London.
- Address: 54 Tower Bridge Road, SE1 4TR (shop details)
Bermondsey Street: Mary’s Living & Giving
Save the Children’s Bermondsey shop is a lovely, carefully curated spot on one of the prettiest streets in the area. It’s not the cheapest - the vintage and second-hand pieces here are chosen with an eye for it - but if you’re walking Bermondsey Street anyway, it’s absolutely worth popping in.
One thing worth knowing: the shop has had to close temporarily on occasion due to a shortage of volunteers. So if you live locally and fancy giving some time to a good cause, they’d almost certainly appreciate the help.
- Address: 90 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3UB (shop details)
A note on opening hours
Most of these keep fairly standard charity shop hours - roughly Monday to Saturday, with shorter Sunday opening where they open at all. The BHF Home Store and the independents can differ, and as mentioned, Mary’s occasionally closes when volunteers are short. It’s always worth checking a shop’s current times on Ganddee before making a special trip.
Whether you’re doing the full Walworth Road crawl, hunting for furniture on Old Kent Road, or just popping into Bermondsey Street while you’re passing, SE1 and SE17 are a genuinely underrated corner of London for thrifting.
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