The outlet shop located on Prince Avenue (A127) next door to Topps Tiles opened its doors on Monday 26th April. The shop stocks good quality preloved items priced at £2 or under and is its only shop that stocks small electrical items.
The charity’s 23 shops are integral to raising vital income to provide free hospice care to children, young people and adults living with complex or incurable conditions across Essex. Since the Coronavirus outbreak, demand for the charity’s care increased just as its income decreased due the cancellation of public events and months of shop closures.
Since reopening all its shops recently after lockdown restrictions eased, Havens Hospices has been overwhelmed by the kindness of its supporters purchasing goods and making donations. In the first week of being reopen, the charity shops took £60,000 – an increase of 50% on expected income.
The charity is looking forward to welcoming new and existing customers to its new shop located just 500 meters away from its new purpose-built adult hospice Fair Havens located on Priory Crescent. Trevor Johnson, Director of Income Generation at Havens Hospices, said: “We are thrilled to be opening this new shop to communities local to Fair Havens so we can continue to raise vital funds for our hospice care. The shop will be selling a wide range of good-quality items from clothing, books, bric-a-brac to books, CDs/DVDS and small electrical household items.
“Any customers who plan to donate a large number of items we would really appreciate if you could call the shop ahead on 01702 351020 so we can advise on the best time to bring these in.
“Our free hospice care to children, young people and adults can only exist because of the incredible support from our communities during these difficult times and we are truly thankful. Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, the charity has experienced around a 41% decrease in fundraising income.
“For anyone who has not had a chance to visit our shops we would like to reassure everyone that we have measures in place to help keep everyone safe including restricting the number of people allowed in the shops at any one time, only accepting card payments and increased cleaning procedures.”
Havens Hospices welcomes donations of the following clean and good-quality goods for its new shop: small electrical items, clothing, toys, bric-a-brac, books, jewellery and DVDs/CDs. Please note that small electrical items can be donated and dropped off at the charity’s Southend, Leigh-on-sea, Hadleigh, Shoebury and Southchurch shops.
To find out more about Havens Hospices’ charity shops visit www.havenshospices.org.uk/charityshops
Published Monday 26th April 2021
