Retail sales rocketed by almost 50% at Ashgate Hospicecare's charity shops following reopeni

The charity’s retail shops were closed for more than four months due to the most recent lockdown but are now booming following a spike in sales and donations from residents.

On April 12, the first day that non-essential shops were allowed to welcome back customers since the third shutdown, Ashgate Hospicecare reported its most successful day ever –recording more than £18,000 in sales towards end-of-life care for patients and their families.

Between Monday and Sunday, sales at the organisation’s 14 charity shops were up 48% compared to the same week in 2019.

The charity sold 20,051 items throughout the week – almost 5,000 more items than the same week in 2019, when shoppers bought 15,367.

In the last week alone, Ashgate staff and volunteers working at its Donation Centre in Hasland accepted 3,500 bags of donated clothes – all of which were sorted ready to be sold at the charity's shops across North Derbyshire.

Despite the success of the reopening, the hospice is urging its customers to continue supporting the shops after the charity has so far lost more than £3 million in income during the pandemic, due to the cancellation of fundraising events and repeated closure of their retail stores.

Director of income generation at Ashgate Hospicecare Peter Stone said: “A huge thank you to every single one of our supporters who came out and bought something from one of our shops since we reopened them last week.

“We’ve been delighted at the heart-warming support we’ve received over the past week or so.

“Having had to shut our shops and cancel our events, it’s been a really difficult year for everyone associated with Ashgate – so to receive such overwhelming support from the moment we reopened our shop doors was remarkable.

“Credit must go to our hard-working retail staff and volunteers who have been working tirelessly to help make the reopening a pleasant and safe experience for our supporters.”

The charity also reopened its coffee shop at the Hasland site for takeaway only last week, while the coffee shops in Clowne and Shirebrook are expected to reopen on May 17.

In recent weeks, the charity has received an influx in donations which has allowed them to keep their shops fully stocked.

Peter added: “We've been inundated with donations of pre-loved items since reopening; the generosity of the North Derbyshire community is nothing short of incredible.

“Our shops help fund a large percentage of the care that Ashgate provides but and without people donating top quality clothing and items to us, this simply wouldn’t be possible.

“We’re looking forward to continuing to welcome our wonderful supporters to our shops over the coming weeks and if you haven’t paid a visit to one of our shops yet, we hope to see in-store at some point soon!”

Thousands of pounds worth of new and used furniture has also been sold at Ashgate’s Hasland Furniture Store and the most popular type of item bought by charity shop shoppers during reopening week was women’s clothing.

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