How can a pair of fancy high heels increase aid? Well, simple. An Oxfam shop is taking the international aid agency's commitment to fundraising one step further by launching the first ever, exclusive shopping experience for transvestites, transsexuals and cross-dressers.

Outrageous as it may sound, it does add up. Selling 50 pairs of stilettos would be enough to purchase essential medicines for five villages while the money raised by selling 70 handbags would provide safe water for 1,000 people.

Shop manager Sally Stone and volunteers Michael McDowell and Mark Stanley dreamt up the idea as a way to sell oversized items being donated to the shop. A tongue-in-cheek window display a few months ago, where male mannequins wore frilly nighties with large silk flowers, caused such a positive reaction that Sally is sure the monthly events are going to be popular.

 Volunteers will remove men's clothes from the shop floor after normal business hours and replace them with oversized clothing - including jackets, dresses, skirts, blouses and fake fur coats - as well as accessories such as larger-size stilettos and handbags.