Many charities will be left counting the cost of another lockdown when their shops are forced to close tomorrow.
It took many stores a long time to re-open after the first lockdown and now their attempts to raise funds for charitable causes are to be hindered again.
Charity shops are a big part of the retail scene in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Masham.
Ripon’s 10th charity shop was all set to open, but Martin House will now have to wait at least a month before serving its first customers.
When the first lockdown of non-essential retailers ended in June, the charity, which provides family-led care for young people with life-limiting conditions, took over large premises on Fishergate.
Martin House’s £2.2m loss
At the time, the charity projected a £2.2 million loss of planned income stretching into summer 2021.
Stephanie Rimmington, the head of retail, said:
“The income we get from our shops is vital to helping Martin House raise the money we need to care for families in this area.”
Further down Fishergate, The Oxfam shop remains closed, having never reopened since the first covid lockdown in March.
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Saint Michael’s, which has shops in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough, spends £6 million per year on hospice care from its base in Crimple Valley.
Saint Michael’s has charity shops across the Harrogate district.
With one in three people in the Harrogate district requiring hospice care or support at some point in their lives, the demand for its services is unrelenting.
A Saint Michael’s spokesperson pointed out:
“We can only care for as many people as we have the funds to help.”
The money required is £15,000 a day and there is reliance on the income from retail shops, alongside bequests, personal donations and fundraising events, which pay for 80 percent of the charity’s work.
British Heart Foundation shop closure
Today marks the last day of trading for the British Heart Foundation books and music shop in Beulah Street, Harrogate.
Like the clothing and bric-a-brac shop it once had further down the street, it will not be reopening.
While shops close, either temporarily or for good, all of the organisations involved – both local and national – continue their work despite the difficult times that they face.
In an appeal for financial donations, the British Heart Foundation, said:
“Covid has put people with heart and circulatory conditions at greater risk than ever. But the effects of the virus have also cut our lifesaving research in half. Slowing down now would put even more lives at stake.
“At a time when hearts need help now more than ever, we urgently need your support.”
Though the shops are closed, there are other ways of supporting the work of all charities and details can be found on their respective websites.
Martin House to open Ripon charity shopMartin House, which provides family-led care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions, is opening a shop in Fishergate, Ripon.
The opening later this summer, at large premises formerly occupied by an opticians, follows a challenging period when the charity suffered the double blow of having to temporarily close its 12 existing shops in Yorkshire and cancel major fundraising events.
Both revenue streams were affected by the covid crisis and Martin House expects to lose £2.2 million in planned income in the next 12 months.
Stephanie Rimmington, the head of retail for the charity, said:
“The income we get from our shops is vital to helping Martin House raise the money we need to care for families in this area.”
The premises in Fishergate, Ripon, where Martin House is opening a new shop
The charity, whose work involves support for families from across North, West and East Yorkshire, has a hospice at Boston Spa and works in the community.
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Among the fundraising events affected by the coronavirus crisis was a coffee morning planned by Joyce Liggins, who arranged the event to thank Martin House for the help and care they had given a few years ago to friends who lost a baby at just 36 hours old.
Mrs Liggins, who lives in Pateley Bridge, said social distancing requirements meant she could not go ahead with the fundraiser but she found a way to raise money regardless:
“I decided to hold three virtual coffee mornings on the first Saturday of May, June and July and asked people to have a cuppa on the Saturday morning and donate to my JustGiving page. My target was £500 and to date the total is an amazing £1250.”
She added:
“As I was also unable to hold the usual tombola, I said that after the final coffee morning I would put everyone’s name who had donated into a draw and held the draw on Zoom. The winners were drawn out live in London by Helen Worth, who plays Gail on Coronation Street.
“We were joined on Zoom by some of those who had donated, including our friends who had lost their baby. They are parents once more with a daughter who is two weeks old.”
The JustGiving page is still open if anyone would like to donate they can send it to: justgiving.com/fundraising/Joyce-Liggins.
More charity shops re-open across the Harrogate district
Further charities with shops in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon have reopened their doors this week.
In Ripon, where nine different charities have retail outlets, The Salvation Army has reopened after being shut since March 23.
The Cancer Research UK shop, located on Market Place, is also back trading in the city, while its shops in Knaresborough Market Place and Oxford Street, Harrogate, have also reopened.
The reopenings follow news reported in The Stray Ferret of last week’s opening of St Vincent’s on Knaresborough High Street, which raises money to support the community work of the St Vincent de Paul charity.
Victoria Smith, manager of Ripon’s Salvation Army shop, told The Stray Ferret:
“We have introduced strict social distancing and hand hygiene arrangements and have also fitted a perspex screen at our counter. Just six people at a time are allowed in.”
Victoria added:
“It has felt like a long time since we had to go into lockdown and we look forward to welcoming back our customers and the people who have supported us in the past through the donation of items for sale.”
The Salvation Army, which has more than 400 shops across the country, is a pioneer, having opened its first shops in the 19th century to provide affordable clothing to people who otherwise could not afford them.
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Cancer Research UK is a research and awareness charity formed in February 2002 through the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
The charity has 600 shops in the UK and Isle of Man and money raised through them is used to support its aim of reducing the number of cancer deaths.
Di Illingworth, who manages the Cancer Research UK Ripon shop (pictured above), said: “We are so pleased to be back. All charities rely heavily on the money raised through their retail outlets.”