It was around 1992 when the clothing outlet began. I believe the idea was formed when a member of the congregation started to collect and bring in bags of used clothes, which piled up in the old kitchen in the basement.

Glenn Cordery was one of the Pastors of the church at that time, when he recognized an opportunity to open up the church once a week, for a couple of hours, to distribute the clothing to the public free of charge. He asked me if I would be willing to co-ordinate this as I was on staff part-time in Women's Ministries at the time. I was delighted and we started off for several years on tables in the gym, which meant we put the clothes out each week and afterwards packed them away in plastic bags in a cupboard.

There was a large room in the basement which had pool tables and games and had been used as a drop-in-centre which seemed to have ended. As a result we were allowed to use it for the clothing even using the pool tables to put the clothes on.

We got to know many individuals and opened up a friendly coffee hour on Monday mornings, using "Our Daily Bread", which developed into a Bible study from which several people came to know the Lord. It also gave me a wonderful opportunity to invite ladies new to the church to participate and also to help me, plus anyone on the outskirts of the church of the church to be pulled in.

We developed as a very close group and those who are still alive are still friends today. In 2002 I asked the Lord if I could retire and I felt that the answer was 'No'. A year later I asked again and at that time it felt different. I knew I couldn't leave without a replacement. Olga Shevchenko was one of my helpers and circumstances had changed and she was able to take over and has done a wonderful job ever since.