WHETHER it's a stuffed animal or a single lightbulb, all donations are welcome at charity shops across North Wiltshire. Now that the festive season has come to an end, volunteers are preparing themselves for a steady stream of unwanted gifts.

Despite it being a busy time for charity shops, volunteers love the new year as people begin to donate their unwanted gifts after decluttering the house post-Christmas.

"This week is normally our busiest week for donations," Debbie Cheeseman, Chippenham area manager for the British Heart Foundation shop, explained. "We tend to get a lot of unwanted Christmas presents, gift sets and new items and we love it! Unwanted presented always sell really well.

"We are looking forward to this year as we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary and the community here are very generous with donations - but we are always looking for more."

The three paid members of staff and 31 volunteers at the British Heart Foundation shop in Chippenham, who have had one of their best years yet, process 400 boxes of goods a week and have come across quirky items such as a stuffed squirrel, which staff have kept as a shop mascot.

Over the years Barnardo's in Wine Street, Devizes, has been given everything from false teeth and prosthetic limbs to valuable items such as toys, collectibles and expensive gold and silver jewellery, something which has also been seen at Calne's DEBRA shop.

DEBRA supports people, often children, suffering from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a group of genetic skin conditions which cause the skin to blister and tear at the slightest touch, and the Calne shop on Phelps Parade is one of only 100 nationwide.

"You would be amazed at what people bring in," Denise Heppell, the DEBRA assistant manager said. "We had a unit from China once which was worth about £2,000 and we had three real life stuffed monkeys - including a brother and a sister - which were sold for £400 online.

"We are always looking for donations, as you can imagine. We have had a few people coming in with unwanted presents and we will continue to get more stuff over the next couple of weeks too.

"We would be grateful for anything but at the moment it is quite difficult to get stuff in especially furniture or bric-a-brac."