A Worcester city centre charity shop will reopen at 10am on Saturday, 4 July after being closed for essential maintenance.
St Richard’s Hospice has also taken the opportunity to redecorate the inside and outside of its St Swithin’s Street shop, including the popular Snowdrops Café on the first floor.
Two volunteers from the shop will perform the ribbon cutting ceremony. Dorothy Keeling has been volunteering for St Richard’s since January 2007 and has been at the St Swithin’s shop since it opened in 2015. Gordon Geikie is the oldest volunteer at the shop at 87 years old and has volunteered in the bookshop for eight years.
Dorothy said: “I started volunteering when I retired as a schoolteacher. I’m a keen reader and I knew I wanted to volunteer somewhere with books.
“Originally, I volunteered at the St Richard’s bookshop in Reindeer Court and then we moved to St Swithin’s Street.
“I enjoy chatting to the customers and I like the feeling of helping someone find a book they’ve been looking for. We have regulars who come in and buy books and once they’ve read them, they donate them back to the shop again.
“I’m very happy volunteering at St Swithin’s and I enjoy my friendships with the other book volunteers I’ve met over the years.”
Gordon said: “While training as a social worker in the 1960s, I attended a lecture by Cicely Saunders, the founder of the hospice movement. I also managed care homes for 20 years, which brought me into contact with end-of-life care, so it seemed like a natural path to volunteer for St Richard’s.
“I thoroughly enjoy working at St Swithin’s; it’s always a joy. The staff make the volunteers feel like we’re part of the team.
“A lot of thought and work has gone into the new layout and decoration. The shop looks fabulous – it’s wonderful!
“I’ve always been a reader, and the shop has a good bookshop. I enjoy engaging with all the different characters we have visiting the bookshop.
“Charity shops have changed completely and people who say they wouldn’t go into one are missing out. They’re also such an important part of the recycling movement.”
Dan Corns, Associate Director of Retail Operations at St Richard’s, said: “We’re really looking forward to sharing our shop with the community again. We have an incredibly loyal customer base in Worcester who support us with high-quality donations and by choosing to shop with us.
“This investment in our flagship shop has created an improved experience for our valued customers, volunteers and staff. This will allow us to maximise the income we can generate from generously donated items, which in turn helps fund our free hospice care.
“Our grateful thanks go to everyone involved in getting the store ready to open, including all our brilliant volunteers.”
The hospice has 20 shops across Worcestershire with the profits contributing towards the cost of providing free hospice care and support to patients, the people important to them, and bereaved people.
Anyone interested in volunteering at a St Richard’s charity shop can visit www.strichards.org.uk/volunteering.
St Richard’s Hospice is an independent charity offering free, expert care for adults with an illness that cannot be cured, and support for their loved ones and carers.
Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,000 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.
It will cost in the region of £12m to run the hospice this year, which includes patient care and all the necessary support services.
St Richard’s relies on voluntary support, including from donations, gifts in Wills, retail and events for the majority of its income with the remainder funded by the NHS.
For more information about St Richard’s Hospice visit www.strichards.org.uk.
