IT was chaotic in the back room of the Samaritans shop in Curtis Street.

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland and I were sifting through black bags filled with clothes. These had already been pre-sorted.

My job was to find hangers for the clothes, work out their sizes and then pass them on to Robert who priced each item using a lethal pricing gun to affix a label.

We were extremely slow, spending far too much time discussing the merits of each piece of clothing which came our way – a case of the pot calling the kettle black from these two fashion icons.

Throughout our couple of hours at the town centre shop, a steady stream of people visited to peruse the clothes, books, plants and various bits of bric-a-brac.

One man came in asking if they had a suit. “What size?” asked the assistant, who then appeared with a pretty decent jacket and pair of trousers hanging over her arm.

The shop has been in Swindon for more than 25 years and was opened by Princess Anne.

The Samaritans own the building, which costs £70,000 a year to run.

The ground floor is the shop and upstairs is where the listeners are based 24 hours a day, receiving 29,000 calls a year.

Fundamental to the success of the Samaritans are its volunteers. In Swindon, they have about 100 listeners and 21 shop staff.

Phil Compton is the Samaritans’ head of fundraising in Swindon. “Our volunteers are quite varied,” he said. “Quite often we get people who have retired who want to put something back into society.

“We are getting people who are out of work who find this is a good way of getting experience to prepare them for retail work.

“We also have a few with mild learning difficulties and we can give them experience.

“For the listening service, the majority are retired who can work all the time. Those who are working can only work at weekends and in the evening.”

The volunteers in the shop, such as Robert and myself, get involved with pricing, sorting and selling. And there is no shortage of donations to sift through.

With the economic uncertainty which is affecting so many there has never been a greater need for the Samaritans.

“With the current economic climate, there are a lot of people with financial problems which can make them feel depressed, even suicidal,” said Phil.

He is looking to grow the charity in Swindon by setting up another shop, ideally in the tented market and also in Gorse Hill.

Although blessed with an almost full complement of volunteers, the Samaritans are continuing to look for people to give up their time.

“We want people who get on well with people, who have a good understanding and are keen,” said Phil.

“This is what Big Society is all about. We have been doing it for a long time so it has not changed. I recommend anyone to try voluntary work.”

As for the future for charities, Phil said there is a need for them now.

“When times are tough, people want to come here for a bargain and when times are good people still want to come here for a bargain,” he said.

“I have found some charity shops which are expensive. We try to remain competitive and drag people from around Havelock Street where most of the charity shops are.

“I’m really positive. I want to expand home collections and school work, along with promotional work.

"We are not reliant on Government money, we get donations which are fed into sustaining the phone lines.”

“People who do voluntary work find it very rewarding. Everyone should try it, even for just a couple of hours a week.”