4
Retail News
In the Spotlight
It’s been four and a half years
since we moved into our current
Jarrow shop. It’s hard to believe
its been so long since we took
over part of the old Woolworths
store!
Jarrow is one of our largest
shops, the maintenance can be
very high and we require a lot of
volunteers to run this shop on
both floor levels.
We have a large stockroom
upstairs where we hold a lot of
our excess furniture/donations
which on a daily basis needs
to be turned around. We have
three employed drivers who
work from our Jarrow shop
alongside help from our Van
Mate Assistants (volunteers).
Turnover from our donations can be very high therefore, to maintain a high
standard of customer service and gift aid in our shops we need volunteers to
assist us. Throughout the years we have had some great volunteers progress
into paid employment due to skills gained whilst working in our shops.
News round up
Look out for a St. Clare’s donation
bag coming through your door in the
near future. All good quality clothing
and shoes are accepted in the
donation bags. All other items would
need to be taken directly to one of
our shops.
Remember to Gift Aid your donated
goods. If you are a UK taxpayer
we can claim an extra 25p from
every £1 we raise from selling your
donated items. The additional
money is claimed from HMRC at no
cost to you. Ask how to Gift Aid your
donation at any of our shops.
Our shops are in urgent need of
goods to sell. If you have any good
quality clothing, shoes, toys or
furniture that you no longer need,
please get in touch with your local
St. Clare’s shop.
Retail needs your help
Our retail business heavily depends on volunteers and we need more volunteers to help us grow. In each shop we need around
200 hours of volunteer time to keep the shops open; we currently have just under 100 hours per shop, which means we really
need your help, even if its just for a few hours each week. There are a range of voluntary roles available including:
•
Admin Officer
•
EBay Picker / Listing Volunteer
•
Shop Assistant
•
Warehouse Operator
•
Visual Merchandiser
•
Cleaner
•
Book/DVD/CD/Bric Specialist
•
Gift Aid Trainee
•
Van Mate Assistant
In addition to making new friends, there is an opportunity for our volunteers to gain a NCFE level 2 Diploma in retail skills, we feel
this qualification would be beneficial to our volunteers so they can develop skills to help them in the future.
Please don’t hesitate to call into one of the shops and ask about our voluntary positions. You can also pick up an application form
from our shops or visit our website
or call 0191 451 6378.
As our retail strategy continues to be implemented so do the changes and improvements to our charity shops. Our
retail news provides you with an insight into what has been happening in the past six months and what to expect in
the near future.
For a list of our shops, their telephone numbers and opening times, please visit our website
Michael Haggis, Jimmy Wanless and
Nathan Wanless.
