Darlington's Guru Boutique to celebrate 50 years in business

After a tough couple of years, Beryl Hankin, the owner of Guru Boutique, in Darlington, was unsure about whether to celebrate the significant milestone.

But she has decided to throw an old fashioned jumble sale to raise funds for Ukraine.

Read more: Darlington people are offering up rooms to Ukrainian refugees

She said: “We were really looking forward to it but with all the bad news and what is going on in Ukraine we were almost not going to celebrate it.

“But we are all about peace and love so we decided now is the time to show it. When you see people struggling like that you have to do something.”

She is holding a jumble sale with some of her stock outside the shop on Wednesday, which will mark 50 years to the day that Guru opened, with all the proceeds going to a charity supporting people affected by the war in Ukraine.

Band Bubamara will be playing eastern European music outside the shop and people are welcome to come and browse the selection of jeans and other clothes, bric a brac and other items.

Depending on how quickly stock sells, the sale may continue until Saturday.

She added: “It’s going to be a proper old-fashioned jumble sale.”

Guru was first opened by Beryl and her mum Irene Maughan in March 1972.

At that time it was part of the Court Arcade, off Skinnergate, but moved to its current location in Blackwellgate in 1990.

Read more: 150k items leave Darlington for Ukraine after donation effort

Opened on a whim and £300 worth of stock, including ethnic clothing and jewellery, it is still going strong with a loyal band of customers.

Alongside Beryl it is now run by Tony Smith, who has been involved since 1973, and Colin Harrison, who joined the team in 1989 after begging for a job.

Beryl added: “People have stuck with us. A lot aren’t just customers, they are friends.

“We’re not like a shop really, it’s more of a community.

“People still have very fond memories of when we were in the arcade. It’s gone in a flash, it seems like yesterday we were there.

“It feels like a miracle we’re still here but we just take each day as it comes and it has been a lot of days now.

“We love to bring all sorts of people together – all ages and all types. There are other spiritual and hippy shops but we are a little bit different.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054