Chester charity stores call on shoppers to donate unwanted presents

Jan 5 2012 by Mark Dowling, Chester Chronicle

Chester charity stores call on shoppers to donate unwanted presents

CHARITY shops across Chester are calling on good-natured shoppers to donate unwanted Christmas presents as they seek to replenish stock levels following a bumper December.

City shops have reported excellent trading throughout last month as economically hard-hit customers sought out bargains in the build-up to the festive period.

Now the stores are calling for a range of items to not only help shoppers during the January sales, but to benefit several worthy causes.

Leanne Maddox, store manager of the Frodsham Street branch of the British Heart Foundation, said: “We have been doing really well, we had a really good December with a mixture of the old and the new items being sold.

“I hope that people came into the store so they could benefit the charity.

“We would now find it helpful if people could give any type of goods – clothes and bric-a-brac donations in particular – as well as unwanted Christmas items.”

Carol Wynne, manager of the Hope House Children’s Hospice store in Frodsham Street, backed the call for donated items.

She said: “We would really welcome unwanted Christmas gifts – although we don’t accept electrical items or furniture, we would like anything such as clothes, books and bric-a-brac, anything that we can get through the door, we would be very pleased with.

“It has been very busy this past month, there are a lot of people about visiting the store and the money we receive goes to help terminally ill children, so it’s for a good cause.”

Valerie Lowe, store manager of the Watergate Street branch of Age UK, said donations would be particularly welcome as the post-Christmas period was traditionally a quieter time for the shop.

She said: “Our stock usually comes in through the deliveries, but the delivery staff have their break at this time, so it slows down at this time of year.

“We have had a very good month with lots of new items in stock, such as gloves, scarves, winter fleeces and a range of cosmetic items that have been a pretty big hit.

“In terms of store donations, we would welcome coats, especially winter coats, bric-a-brac and books.

“We also accept electrical goods, but we deliver those to our Blacon branch so they will be sold there.”