A Westbury Park shop is celebrating its 15th anniversary – having raised over £635,000 for a local charity.
The St Peter’s Hospice store opened on North View on March 2nd, 2008. Since then, the profits of the shop have been funding care for people in Bristol who are living with a life-limiting illness.
Harriet has been working at the shop for nine of those years, working her way up from being a volunteer to her current role as Store Manager. She’s supported by a team of 30 volunteers, many of whom work part-time or fill in when staff take a holiday.
To celebrate the anniversary with the local community Harriet and the team have created a stunning Springtime birthday theme across both windows. It’s taken an effort from staff and volunteers who’ve been busy crocheting and painting back drops.
Harriet says: “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our volunteers and I’m proud to work with them all. As well as sorting the stock, many of our volunteers have specialist knowledge of the interesting items that are donated to us. We received a Regency ring recently which has been sent to auction and I have a lady who researches the silver for us. People know that we sell to the auction houses and eBay and trust us to get the best price for their donations.
“North View is a good street to work on – all the traders look out for each other here. The local residents are great supporters and I’m constantly surprised by how generous people are.
“Our donations reached our biggest week ever recently and the shop has become a destination.”
Care at St Peter’s Hospice costs around £25,650 a day. Every item donated to the Hospice shops helps to fund that care for patients while extending support to their families and loved ones.