St Oswald's Hospice to open first donation station to encourage more gifts for shops

The facility in Ouseburn, in Newcastle, will accept a range of items

St Oswald’s Hospice is set to open its first dedicated donation point to encourage people to give more items for its fundraising shops.

The centre in Ouseburn, Newcastle, opens on Monday to mark the start of Hospice Care Week. It will be open Monday to Saturday, from 9.30am to 3pm to receive donations of clothes, toys, books and small homeware.

An event space next to the new donation point is also due to open before the end of the year which will be able to host pop-up vintage clothing markets, vinyl and book fairs, networking socials and other hospice related events.

Andrew Moir, head of retail at St Oswald’s Hospice, said: “With free onsite parking, plenty of storage and a simple Gift Aid sign-up process, the new donation point will enable us to significantly increase our capacity for receiving donations. This means we can send more items to our shops and raise vital funds to support local people with progressive life-limiting conditions.”

The new donation point on Ouse Street follows St Oswald’s Hospice opening a new Blyth superstore, and revamping its shops in Gosforth and Morpeth as second-hand shopping increases in popularity. Hospice UK is using its national annual awareness week to highlight hospice retail and the role it plays in funding hospice services. The charity, which represents more than 200 hospices across the UK, say that more money is now spent buying second-hand goods in hospice shops than hospices receive from the Government.

Steph Edusei, chief executive at St Oswald’s Hospice, said: “Our hospice retail team has always played a crucial role in helping fund our care, while raising awareness in the local community. This role is only increasing due to more pressures on public funding and rising running costs, which are reflected in hospices across the UK.

“We are part of the Hospice North East and North Cumbria group and we’re all seeing the growing importance of retail income. At St Oswald’s Hospice, we are choosing to invest in retail to maximise our shopping experience and generate revenue that funds the growth and development of our care to families across the North East.”

For full details on what items can be donated to St Oswald’s Hospice’s Ouseburn donation point, people can visit https://www.stoswaldsuk.org/store/ouseburn-donation-point/.