Chichester charity shop asks residents not to dump unwanted goods outside to avoid items being damaged or stolen

The manager of a Chichester charity shop has warned people against dumping unwanted items outside .
Kay Fisher (back row, right), manager at Bernardo's in South Street, asked all those considering donatingitems to first call in to ask if the shop is able to take them. Photo: Kate Shemilt, 2017Kay Fisher (back row, right), manager at Bernardo's in South Street, asked all those considering donatingitems to first call in to ask if the shop is able to take them. Photo: Kate Shemilt, 2017
Kay Fisher (back row, right), manager at Bernardo's in South Street, asked all those considering donatingitems to first call in to ask if the shop is able to take them. Photo: Kate Shemilt, 2017

Charity shops were among the non-essential business given the go-ahead to reopen their doors after coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased last week.

Bernardo's reopened its South Street store but its Crane Street branch remains closed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Kay Fisher, manager at the South Street branch, said staff are under pressure following the store's reopening last week, with only four of 24 volunteers returning to work.

'Covid-ready adaptations' mean St Wilfrid's Hospice is urging the public to help them by being considerate in selecting 'pre-loved treasures' for donating.'Covid-ready adaptations' mean St Wilfrid's Hospice is urging the public to help them by being considerate in selecting 'pre-loved treasures' for donating.
'Covid-ready adaptations' mean St Wilfrid's Hospice is urging the public to help them by being considerate in selecting 'pre-loved treasures' for donating.

"The biggest thing for us is that a lot of our volunteers are in the vulnerable category so we haven't got a lot of our workforce back," Kay explained. "Most are shielding or too frightened to get the bus in.

"We haven't been inundated because our customers have been very good and we really appreciate their support."

Kay said the challenge is made more difficult when she 'often finds' bags of unwanted goods left outside after they have been ripped open by opportunist thieves.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She said: "It's horrendous. It's not good at all, especially when we're struggling at the moment.

St Wilfrids Hospice hasannounced the re-opening of six of its shops; Chidham;Chalcroft; Midhurst (pictured), East Wittering; the Retro andVintage shop on Eastergate Square, Chichester, and its Donation and Furniture Centre on Terminus Road.St Wilfrids Hospice hasannounced the re-opening of six of its shops; Chidham;Chalcroft; Midhurst (pictured), East Wittering; the Retro andVintage shop on Eastergate Square, Chichester, and its Donation and Furniture Centre on Terminus Road.
St Wilfrids Hospice hasannounced the re-opening of six of its shops; Chidham;Chalcroft; Midhurst (pictured), East Wittering; the Retro andVintage shop on Eastergate Square, Chichester, and its Donation and Furniture Centre on Terminus Road.

"Please don't leave donations outside the store. You would being doing us a real, good favour.

"People go through the bags when we're not here and they steal them so they're not getting to the charities."

Kay asked all those considering donating items to first call in to ask if the shop is able to take them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She said: "We do have to quarantine things for 72 hours so space is an issue. Leaving things outside the front or back of the shop is awful for us because we then have to touch that to bring it in.

"They are leaving things we can't sell like electrical goods. It's also very hard to sell household stuff so we are not really accepting mugs, glasses and cups."

Chichester BID echoed the calls for people to be 'mindful about where they leave their donated goods'.

Operations manager Jeanette Hockley said: “It is wonderful to welcome back some of the city’s charity shops and while we wait for more to reopen we encourage people to be mindful about where they leave their donated goods.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We’ve noticed piles of items outside various charity shops that are still closed causing trip hazards and the risk of items getting damaged or stolen. To find out what businesses have reopened and the safety measures in place, you can visit our online directory at www.chichesterbid.co.uk.”

St Wilfrid’s Hospice has announced the re-opening of six of its shops; Chidham; Chalcroft; Midhurst, East Wittering; the Retro and Vintage shop on Eastergate Square, Chichester, and its Donation and Furniture Centre on Terminus Road.

From today (Monday, June 22 ) the opening times will be:

- Terminus road: 9.00am - 5.00pm

- Chidham: 9.00am - 4.30pm

- Chalcroft: 9.00am - 5.00pm

- East Wittering: 9.00am - 4.30pm

- Retro and Vintage: 9.30am - 4.30pm

- Midhurst: 9.00am - 3.00pm

Hospice chief executive Alison Moorey said: “We are grateful to welcome back our shoppers and are fully committed to the safety of all those who do such amazing things to fundraise for end of life care in our community.

"Over 280,000 purchases last year, contributed £2 million to the running of your local hospice.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"In recent weeks, time at home has given many of our volunteers the opportunity to utilise their sewing skills to make wonderful homemade tote bags which you can now find in store."

One member of staff working at Retro and Vintage said people 'really appreciate how lovely' the shops looks and all the 'extra effort' that has gone into the re-opening.

He added: "We even had an eagle-eyed philatelist, or stamp collector to you and me, buy over £80 of rare stamps!”.

'Covid-ready adaptations' mean St Wilfrid’s is urging the public to help them by being considerate in selecting 'pre-loved treasures' for donating.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

For full details of the latest donation drop-off times and volunteering opportunities with St Wilfrid’s Hospice visit stwh.co.uk.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price.

So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.