Hope House Children’s Hospices has today announced exciting plans to open a new flagship superstore in Oswestry town centre.
The charity, which provides vital care and support for local children with life-threatening conditions, has 15 shops across Shropshire, Cheshire, Mid and North Wales. Together they raise more than £1 million each year towards the £7.5 million needed to fund care for every child in need.
The new Oswestry store will open this Spring at premises on Smithfield Street, which was formerly occupied by Argos. Work will begin shortly to fit out superstore where the charity will sell an extensive range of new and pre-loved items donated by supporters who believe in what they do and want to help seriously ill local children.
Hope House Head of Retail Suzanne Cumming said the new location was more than three times the size of the charity’s existing store on nearby English Walls, which would be closing in due course.
“We already have incredible support for our existing Oswestry store from people in the surrounding area who bring us donations of stock and who shop with us,” explained Suzanne.
“Their generosity has meant we have outgrown our existing store. This exciting new store will be our flagship, giving us much more space to display our pre-loved items and brand new giftware, and also introduce new lines such as furniture.
“It will also be a fantastic environment for our staff and volunteers, and we are hoping that even more people will be tempted to join our family and help us to run the shop. We have a whole range of volunteering opportunities on the shop floor and behind the scenes so whatever you would love to do, we would love to meet you.
“We are proud to be investing in Oswestry at this time and are confident that, because of the fantastic support we have in the area, this move will help us to raise even more money to fund our vital services for local children and their families.”
The Hope House Retail Team would love to hear from anyone who is interested in the volunteering opportunities on offer (hopehouse.org.uk/volunteer-in-our-shops) or who has items of furniture they would like to donate, which can be collected free of charge (hopehouse.org.uk/furniture). Alternatively, you can call the team on 01691 672607.
Pictured from left: Director of Income Generation Simi Epstein, Head of Retail Suzanne Cummings, Retail Operations Manager Lindy Welch-Smart and Area Manager Mike Gill.
