St Ann’s Hospice is preparing to reopen some of its shops to help raise money to ensure its nurses can continue to care for patients.
St Ann’s cares for patients with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses from across Greater Manchester, but has seen its fundraising income hit hard due to the coronavirus crisis.
The majority of its shops will open on Monday, June 15th, as new lockdown rules come into place.
The charity shop teams are preparing to put in place special measures to ensure they can start to trade again, whilst keeping customers, staff and volunteers safe.
“Like many organisations, we’ve had a lot of challenges to face during this pandemic, but even more so in that our teams have been working on the front line caring for patients throughout,” said Dr Paul Jarvis, Director of Business Development at the hospice.
“As a result, we’re all used to ensuring the safety of patients, families, visitors and our staff and volunteers, and have been following all of the national government, Public Health England and NHS guidance.
“Our fundraising income has been hit hard, but we’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of people from our local communities who have continued to think about us, despite their own personal challenges too.”
Shops in Edgeley, Stockport, Heald Green, Altrincham and Romiley will open on Monday, with Romiley from Tuesday – for more information, visit www.sah.org.uk/shop.
The hospice is also updating its goods donation policy and will be taking those on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only, to ensure appropriate time to handle, isolate and clean goods safely before they are stocked in the shops.
Numbers of people in the shops will be also limited to ensure social distancing can be adhered to correctly.
