The demand was clearly there – on Sunday morning, some people were waiting in their cars in the car park for the shop to open.
The idea came from the shop team who wanted to try something new.
‘We’ve got a lot of really good donations and the best thing for the hospice is that we sell them, because that funds the salaries of our nurses,’ said CEO Rob Jones.
‘To open on a Sunday and a bank holiday Monday is something that we’ve seen happen elsewhere. It’s become quite normal in the UK for charity shops to be open.
‘If it is fruitful and we can get the staff and volunteers in, then it’s worth doing.’
The money generated from the St Martin’s charity shop pays the wages of 12 nurses.
The shop recently opened on the Bridge is only open on Fridays and Saturdays and is already funding the salary of one nurse.
‘The amount of donations in the past three years has doubled,’ said Mr Jones.
‘With twice as many donations, we get twice as much stock out and twice as much money being made, but we need an army of volunteers to be able to do that.’
At least five volunteers are required to open the shop and run smoothly.
It also takes on students doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards to fulfil the volunteering aspects of the scheme.
The average price of a good quality item in the children’s shop is £2.
Most clothing items in the main shop sell for about £4, with some top-end fashions for just less than £10.
‘We have some amazing volunteers who work literally full-time and we couldn’t do what we do without them,’ said shop manager Tina Williams.
‘It’s not just a workplace for volunteers, it’s a social as well.’
Les Bourgs will assess the outcome of the trial and decide whether it will continue to open on Sundays.
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