Havens Hospices once again had to close its 23 shops across Essex this month after the Government announced a second national lockdown. Their shops collectively raise more than £40,000 per week to help fund their specialist palliative nursing care and support for people of all ages living with complex or incurable conditions.

With the shops temporarily closed, Havens Hospices is using this time as an opportunity to expand its online shopping platforms so supporters can still shop for preloved, good quality items from the comfort of their own home.

Havens Hospices has launched an online shop on Depop, which specialises in unique, preloved and vintage fashion products, as well as setting up on the buying and selling app Shpock. The charity is also utilising and expanding its eBay site to sell a broader range of good quality items.

Trevor Johnson, Director of Income Generation at Havens Hospices says:

“This past year has been a very different and challenging one for our charity. On average, we are experiencing a 41% decrease in fundraising income due to the pandemic which has meant we have had to cancel public fundraising events and earlier this year again our shops were closed for over three months.

“We have had to adapt to and expand our e-commerce during the pandemic so we can continue to raise vital funds for our hospice care. Christmas especially is a crucial fundraising opportunity for charity shops with many people – especially during these difficult economic times- looking for affordable and good quality Christmas gifts and cards.

“We sell a wide range of products from clothing, games, toys, books, bric-a-brac and much more – we get some great, unique and one-off items donated to our shops which you may not find elsewhere.

“Shopping with us whether in our stores or online also provides more economical and environmentally friendly shopping choices for people and also by selling online helps us attract new customers.

“It’s never been easier for customers to support us from the comfort of their own home and we hope our local communities will still continue to shop with us safely during these uncertain times so we can continue raising vital funds for our care, ‘Making every day count’ for every child, young person, adults and family we care for.”

The charity is offering delivery and ‘click and collect’ services when ordering from Ebay, Depop or Shpock from its stores in Southchurch, Shoebury by Asda supermarket, Canvey and Grays and will still continue to offer online shopping options once all their shops are able to reopen again next month.

To see what the charity has to offer online visit their Ebay shop at www.ebay.co.uk/str/havenshospices, Depop shop www.depop.com/havenshospices , and search ‘Havens Hospices’ on the Shpock App.

Visit @havenshospicesshops on Instagram and tag your outfits and flatlays from our shops using #HavensShopsFinds.

Published on 18th November 2020