The idea is simple but the outcome is life-changing.
Every week Paula Jones opens the door of her Salvation Army store to women who have fled domestic abuse with their children and lets them take what they want.
Ms Jones, who was left with nothing but binbags of clothes when she left an abusive relationship 20 years ago, has used her own experiences to ensure the charity shop she runs helps fellow charity Glasgow Women's Aid (GWA).
The idea came to her after she saw an appeal on Facebook from GWA asking for a jacket, trousers and a pair of shoes for a woman in refuge.
Ms Jones said: "I’d seen a couple of ads like that and I thought ‘I need to do something about that’.
"This is a large store and I have got loads of clothes, loads of stuff I can give out.
"I’ve been through domestic violence 20 years ago and nobody helped me, I didn’t know there was anything out there to help you, so I understand what it's like.
"When you’re going through that your mental health isn’t great.
"They have done the right thing to move out of that violent home but they need the right clothes to help them go forward."
As often as three times a week support workers from the domestic abuse charity will bring women and their families into the store and let them choose anything from homeware to furniture and clothes, toys and electronics.
"The women have sometimes left with nothing, they have left with the clothes on their back," the 52-year-old added.
"I take the stuff off the hangers and put them into new bags for them and they look just like they’ve been shopping.
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"They just come and see me and I give them a bag and they get what their desire is."
Ms Jones began working for The Salvation Army in 2008 as a volunteer when her youngest son started nursery as a way of "being Paula again" after being a fulltime mum-of-three.
She worked her way up to a salaried role and is now manager of the largest of the charity's stores, on Dumbarton Road in Glasgow's west end, managing around 40 staff and volunteers.
Ms Jones, who is also a mental health first aider, uses her own experiences to guide support for the women who are shopping in store.
She said: "This is personal to me. When you've had a bad life yourself and you've gone through a lot of things as a single parent - I've been homeless, I've been in that scatter flat, I've had domestic violence.
"When you've had to fight yourself with no family, no help, you learn to appreciate people and what their needs are.
"I want this to grow out to other stores because people out there need us.
"I really want other stores within the company to help their local community and have that spread out across the UK."
Ms Jones has also roped in her volunteers and staff at the charity shop to use their spare time and creativity to support women at risk of domestic abuse.
She added: "Creative craft is everybody's happy place, whether you're good at it or not so that's what we did.
"We'll upcycle plain glasses. So I got my staff to down tools and we made the glasses."
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The team at the store on Dumbarton Road have been taking glasses donated by the public and transforming them into hand-decorated gifts to raise money for Glasgow Women's Aid.
Glasgow MSP Pam Duncan Glancy popped in to support the project and chose glasses to take home with her.
She said: “One woman helped by Glasgow Women’s Aid and The Salvation Army said the support she received through the partnership was life-changing.
"The mum of three fled her country with nothing and was struggling to cope in Scotland.
"But she said that all changed when she and her children were invited along to the store to pick out as much furniture and clothing as she needed for her family."
Ms Jones said GWA staff were surprised that a charity would want to fundraise for another but, she said, her store is successful enough that it's vital to share that success around.
She added: "As the women are taking the goods away we're hugging and I'm saying, 'You're alright, I've been there', giving them advice from myself because of what I've been through in life.
"I'm giving them a heart-to-heart and a boost as they go out the door.
"I say 'There will be an ending, look where I am. I had three kids and I was in a homeless unit and now I'm the manager of a large store with 40-plus staff and a good salary.
"There is a happy ending at the end of it."
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