AT the end of business hours on Tuesday, a door in Regent Street closed on a 51-year era.

There was a time when Swindon had three Oxfam shops, but now it has none.

The other two are long gone and now the Regent Street site has joined them, the victim, apparently, of rising costs.

Some of those most intimately involved with the foreign aid charity marked the occasion by sharing their memories - and their admiration for the kindness of local people.

Becks Croce, 41, who has managed the shop since 2009, said: “I had a young girl over Christmas, thirteen years old, got a hundred pounds for Christmas, and wanted to donate it all to help with the Ebola crisis.

“That’s a thirteen-year-old girl. They’re just getting into clothes and make-up but no, she donated everything to the Ebola appeal.

“Every year it’s the same. People are so generous, so giving and it’s really heart-warming.”

Becks’ predecessor, 64-year-old Maggie Aldridge, was in charge for 19 years and remains a volunteer.

“Swindon has been really supportive of Oxfam, always,” she said.

“It’s not the people you necessarily expect. It could be a little old lady who hasn’t got two pennies to rub together, and yet she’ll give you a fiver.

Diana North, 81, and Margaret Anderson, 80, are retired teachers from Old Town. They helped to set up Oxfam’s Swindon committee in 1964, have been with the charity ever since and have seen that same kindness demonstrated countless times.

Both remember, for example, the Bring and Buy Appeal for Cambodian refugees more than 30 years ago, run in conjunction with Blue Peter.

Diana said: “They bought things on their way to the shop, gave them to us and said, ‘Sell this for as much as you can.’”

Margaret added: “I shall never forget somebody buying a book or something that cost a couple of bob, giving me five pounds and saying, ‘Keep the change.’ It was extraordinary. Talk about restoring your faith in humanity.”

Other memories are bizarre or funny rather than poignant. Charity shop workers, rather like medics, accumulate a wealth of weird tales, usually about things found among donations.

“We found a set of false teeth amongst the shoes once,” said Diana. “We never discovered who they belonged to...”

Becks said: “The weirdest thing I’ve ever come across is a little velvet bag, a drawstring bag, with two gold teeth.”

The prize must surely go to Maggie, though. “One that stands out is a dead mouse in a handbag.”

The deceased rodent, still in the bag, was thrown out, only to be rediscovered by a member of the public searching the bin for stray valuables. Her screams alerted the staff.

“The lady was near on fainting,” said Maggie. "We had to get her some water.”

Another memorable moment for Maggie came as she transferred goods from the Regent Street shop to the one in Faringdon Road.

“I used to just load up the trolley and take it down the street. One day when I was pushing it, a little boy said, ‘Mum, is that lady a bag lady?’ It was piled up with black sacks, so I suppose it was understandable in a way...”

Charity shop workers are also the first to know when a literary fad has had its day. Diana remembers multitudes of discarded copies of copies of Jaws, while for Becks it’s Fifty Shades of Grey and The Da Vinci Code.

The Swindon committee of Oxfam formed on January 2, 1964, following a meeting at the home of a senior Commonweal mistress called Miss Davidson.

There were jumble sales, clothing collections, and other fundraising drives, and the Faringdon Road shop opened in 1969. The Regent Street branch came in the late 1980s, and a succession of bookshops ended with one in Theatre Square. This closed in 2010, by which time the Faringdon Road branch was also gone.

Those who have played a role in the charity’s work here day are saddened but not without hope.

“There’s always hope,” said Becks. “I’ve been led to believe that, just because we’re closing currently, it doesn’t mean that we’ll be closing permanently. All we can do is hope.”

“Just because we’re not here it doesn’t mean they don’t need your support and your help.

“Please don’t forget about the organisation just because we’re not on the high street anymore.”