Weldmar's charity shops set to lose £250,000 in second lockdown

The hospice have closed their shops and outlets along with national guidelines.

Director of Retail Gavin Anderson-Terry
Author: George Sharpe Published 9th Nov 2020

The second national is estimated to cost Weldmar Hospicecare £250,000 in lost revenue.

The closure of retail outlets means Weldmar Hospicecare will lose an estimated quarter of a million pounds.

The charity has to raise around £18,000 per day to keep it's services running.

But, the lockdown will set them back around £9,000 for every day their shops are closed.

Director of Retail Gavin Anderson-Terry said:

“November is traditionally a busy time, as Christmas shopping really begins to ramp up, even for those of us in the charity retail sector. We find that lots of people come to us for their more unusual gifts, Secret Santa presents, and fashion for Christmas parties and get togethers, so it’s a challenging time to be closed.”

“It’s massive for us, with 24 retail sites to close, and staff to put back onto furlough. We will also be putting lots more items on our eBay site over the next few weeks, and we will process online orders for our Christmas cards, and 2021 calendars and diaries, centrally.”

The charity's holding the Summer Fete in the grounds of its inpatient unit

Gavin explains that the retail closures will not affect hospice services.

“Whilst the loss of turnover is certainly significant, it will not affect our patient services at all. We are committed to continuing provision of outstanding end of life care, both for patients being looked after at home, and those in our Inpatient Unit in Dorchester.”

They're asking people to keep any items they'd like to donate aside for when they can reopen, which they're hoping will happen when the lockdown ends on 2nd December.