Thank you for supporting our charity shops!
Our charity shops are the face of our hospice on the high street. As well as raising vital funds so we can continue to deliver expert care, they also increase awareness of our charity across the community and provide an easy way for people to support us.
With second-hand shopping becoming increasingly popular, our charity shops are a vital part of our fundraising and last financial year, our incredible customers brought…
- 136,031 items of clothing, raising £669,423
- 76,976 books, raising £115,144
- 4,724 items of furniture, raising £143,032
- 82,519 items of bric-a-brac, raising £269,000.
We sold 108,825 items of ladieswear which accounted for 35 per cent of our overall sales. Menswear accounted for 11 per cent of sales, with 27,206 items sold.
Catherine’s Bridal – our stunning collection of pre-loved wedding and occasion wear – raised £17,716 alone, and accounted for eight per cent of sales in our Horsham store. The success of Catherine’s Bridal means we have expanded this unique initiative into our new East Grinstead shop, providing another location for those wanting to donate their special garments, and encouraging even more eco-conscious people to shop pre-loved for their important events.
The funds raised through the sale of all these items support the care we provide for local families living with a life-limiting or terminal condition.
As well as the obvious benefit to our hospice, our charity shops also have a positive impact on the environment.
The new clothing and footwear industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, accounting for ten per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It takes 2,700 litres of fresh water to make a single cotton t-shirt – enough to meet one person’s drinking needs for two and a half years. And it is estimated that globally 87 per cent of clothing is landfilled or incinerated*. Our shops help to keep products in circulation for longer, extending their life span, delaying their arrival in landfill, and reducing the need for new production – helping to conserve water, energy, and raw materials.
For example, the 136,031 items of clothing we sold last year helped to divert 1,890,831kg of CO2 emissions from reaching our atmosphere – the equivalent to the amount of CO2 960,366 trees take from the atmosphere in one day.
Paula McGoveney, our Director of Income Generation and Marketing said:
“These facts and figures really demonstrate how important charity shops are to our fundraising, and it’s thanks to the generosity of our supporters who donate their unwanted items and shop with us that we can continue caring for families that need us. With the cost of shopping for new products so expensive at the moment, buying pre-loved is also a cheaper way to pick up some extra bits – another big win!”
To find out more about our 13 shops and to calculate the positive impact your second-hand shopping is having on the environment, visit our shops page.
*Information taken from: SHC-Trade-in-Ghana-1.pdf (charityretail.org.uk)
