Don’t believe all you hear on the street. The Rye rumour mill is in full swing at the moment and, with so many of us facing such an uncertain future, our strength is in pulling together as a community rather than helping the spread of ‘Chinese whispers’.
Contrary to popular belief, St Michael’s Hospice Shop on Cinque Ports Street is not closing down. It may look that way as, at the moment, one half of the shop has been emptied and refurbished, and the other half is currently undergoing the same treatment. All things being equal (according to one of the contractors on site), the shop is due to re-open in September.
If you haven’t yet taken your donations to Sue Ryder (which re-opened on Monday, August 17) then keep filling those bags with saleable goodies and take them along to the St Michael’s Hospice Shop next month as they, like all other charity shops, have been losing money and urgently need your support.
They have always been there when we needed them, so now it’s our turn to help to repay all that they have done for so many people – and all of us probably know someone who is indebted to St Michael’s Hospice.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
I find it hard to believe that money made via donations will help to pay for refurbishment, surely it can be put to better use as it was intended ! A total waste of money in my opinion
In response to Nikki Pepper, I spent ten years on the board of directors for St Michael’s Hospice involved with shops and fundraising and I can guarantee you that wasting money is not on their agenda, quite the opposite in fact but their charity is also a business, competing in very challenging times with many other worthy causes.
To attract new customers and donors they have to present their shops properly and that includes periodic decoration and/or refurbishment, many charity shops are and will fall by the wayside. Thankfully this shop isn’t one of them, if we continue to support it then it will remain open. The more donations they attract the more money they can generate towards palliative care for example. Dowdy, smelly, untidy and old fashioned charity shops are a thing of the past, they have to compete hard to survive and I wish them continued success.
Sometimes you need to speculate to accumulate, charity shops can sometimes come across as tired, dirty places.
I’m not saying it is dirty but first impressions can sometimes mean the difference between walking in and walking out.
It’s also sad seeing piles of bin bags up against the notice saying *please do not leave donations here*