Salvation Army moves into new charity shop and worship space in Chesterfield

The ribbon was cut at the new donation centre on December 10.

The Christian church and charity, which has been in the town since 1881, has renovated the former Lidl store in Foljambe Road to provide a worship space as well as a large charity shop and donation centre.

Money raised from the sales of donations will go to help The Salvation Army’s work.

Salvation Army leader in Chesterfield, captain Elizabeth Di-Palma, said: “We are excited to move into our new building that we are sharing with our donation centre run by the Salvation Army Trading Company as together, we provide a great opportunity to meet people and support the local community.

“Opening at Christmas is especially poignant to us as this is a time of new beginnings when we received the greatest gift of all, Jesus.

"Our church and donation centre hopes to be a blessing to the people of Chesterfield and we warmly welcome people to come for support, to shop or join a meeting once our worship space has opened.”

The donation centre, which offers a range of affordable and good quality pre-loved furniture, clothes and bicycles is now open, with the worship space set to open in January.

Lee Foster, the new manager at Chesterfield donation centre, said: “The main difference between a charity shop and a donation centre is the range of goods available and volume of donations we are able to accept. People often walk into a charity shop carrying a bag of donations, but as you can drive to the donation centre, there is parking space at the front to help manoeuvre bigger items, such as furniture.”

“We have introduced extra safety measures to help keep everyone safe and it’s a large store with plenty of space for customers.”

Other features at the centre include a community refrigerator and cupboard, providing free food for people who need it and a community space which will give visitors a chance to sit and enjoy a cup of tea, when Covid restrictions lift.

Visitors can also browse a range of second-hand bicycles, safety-checked by a qualified bike mechanic as part of the on-site ‘Recycles’ workshop.

Lee added: “We welcome donations which we can reuse and recycle, giving them a new lease of life for others.”