All 22 Havens Hospices shops across Essex will open from Monday 12th April during the opening times of Monday to Saturday between 10am and 4.30pm.  

Social distancing and additional hygiene measures will continue to be in place to protect staff, volunteers and customers, ensuring a safe shopping environment. There will be a reduced number of customers allowed in the stores at any one time so customers may be asked to queue outside and the shops will only be accepting contactless and card payments. 

Havens Hospices has seen a significant drop in their income due to the cancellation of a number of public fundraising events and the closing of all its shops and is looking forward to reopening so they can continue to raise vital income for their essential hospice care across Essex. 

Trevor Johnson, Director of Income Generation at Havens Hospices said: “We are thrilled that we can finally open our shops to local communities once again. Over the past 13 months our shops have sadly closed three times which has impacted our fundraising significantly.  

“Every purchase and donation made helps us provide our essential palliative and supportive care to people with complex or incurable conditions during these difficult times. Our care hasn’t stopped during the pandemic, so neither can our fundraising. 

“We kindly ask the public to please follow the guidelines in our shops for their own safety and for the safety of our staff and volunteers. 

“Thank you so much to our supporters and customers for keeping aside their donations for us. With lots of people having clear-outs during lockdown we are expecting a huge influx of donations from Monday 12th April, so if customers have large amounts of donations we would really appreicate it if they could call their local shop in advance so we can advise on the best time to bring these in.  

“We would like to thank our customers for their support and cooperation in advance – we can’t wait to welcome you back.” 

For the latest updates on the charity’s shops reopening, follow @havenshospices and @havensevents on Facebook and @havenshopsicesshops on Instagram. 

People can also shop with Havens Hospices online 24/7 on Depop, eBay and Shpock. Visit  www.havenshospices.org.uk/charityshops for more information.  

Published Thursday 8th April 2021