In Soho, one of London’s busiest shopping districts, two volunteers stand outside a shop with a billboard urging passersby to "Choose Love." 

They are hoping to direct people to a shop with a difference. Goods are on offer to buy, but you leave with nothing. Instead, the charity Help Refugees who run the shop will send the items as Christmas gifts to one of the hundreds of thousands of refugees across Europe and the Middle East.

Shoppers can choose from many essential items which reflect a typical refugee journey. There are life jackets and foil blankets for those undertaking dangerous sea voyages. Cooking utensils, food and tents are on offer for the next phase, life in a refugee camp. Then toys, educational supplies and a door key representing the help offered to families as they are resettled and try to re-establish their lives.

The shop opened on Black Friday and has already seen about 3,000 customers buy 1,700 children's coats and 1,300 blankets, among other items, in the first week of trade.

Tom Steadman from the Help Refugees charity told CGTN  the shop is already having an impact. "We have already bought children's coats that are being delivered on the Greek Islands, we've bought tents as well. At the moment every day, hundreds of people are arriving on the Greek Islands and over 50 percent of those people are children. And to be able to say that this shop in the heart of London is having an impact on those people that are arriving now is quite remarkable." 

All items purchased for the refugees are bought locally in a bid to help the economies of those countries dealing with the refugee crisis. The charity also may redistribute funds as needed to avoid the scenario that one product, for example children's coats, might be favored heavily over others.

One shopper, Belinda Cooper had just purchased 250 US dollars of essential supplies as Christmas gifts for relatives and friends.

"I think it's a fantastic idea. I really think these should be everywhere," she told CGTN of the shop. "It’s a real thing to give to someone so it is a Christmas present to someone you’ve never met."

The shop will close on Christmas eve, although the online store can be found at www.choose.love.