Worcestershire’s St Richard’s Hospice is now accepting The Charity Shop Gift Card in its stores — the only nationally accepted, multi-retailer gift card that can be spent exclusively in charity shops.
The Charity Shop Gift Card is a not-for-profit that has been developed and launched in association with the Charity Retail Association.
St Richard’s Hospice, based in Worcester, is now selling and accepting the card in its seventeen shops in the area.
Dan Corns, Commercial Director for St Richard’s Hospice, said: “We’re excited for our shops to get involved with this unique scheme. The voucher allows for positive environmental action in the wider community, something which is vital in today’s world. We expect charity shopping to continue its rapid growth, as people recognise the benefits of shopping pre-loved.”
The gift card for good is being accepted by regional charities in most areas of the UK and in the national network of shops run by Marie Curie, Shelter, Crisis, YMCA and The Children’s Society. St Richard’s Hospice joins Acorns Children’s Hospice in accepting the card in the region.
The scheme will support the growing second-hand revolution, which is helping to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. It will also help national and regional charities boost their own income by giving them their first collective opportunity to tap into the £7billion-a-year gift card market.
The Charity Retail Association has 450 members with 9,000 shops, and together they are already diverting over 300,000 tonnes of textiles away from landfill and contributing over £300million to help fund the work of their parent charities.
As a social enterprise, a minimum of 65% of the gift card scheme’s surplus will go towards funding charity gift cards for good causes to donate to the communities they are supporting.
The gift cards themselves are recyclable and compostable and are available from participating charities and at supermarkets and other major high street retailers. They can be purchased as e-vouchers from www.thecharityshopgiftcard.co.uk,
The Charity Shop Gift Card is a member of Social Enterprise UK and the Gift Card and Voucher Association.
Lee Fellows, Co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card, said: “We’re delighted to be working with St Richard’s Hospice. Residents of Worcestershire now have an array of participating shops to choose from when spending their donated vouchers, and gift vouchers too.
“We’re also thrilled that one of the local councils will also be utilising the card to help Worcestershire residents who are struggling financially access the essential items in the local area.”
St Richard’s Hospice is an independent charity caring for adults with a serious progressive illness, improving their quality of life from diagnosis, during treatment to their last days and supporting those important to them.
Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,100 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.
It costs £9.72m to run the hospice (21/22 audited accounts), which includes patient care and all the necessary support services.
St Richard’s relies on donations and gifts in Wills for the majority of its income with the remainder funded by the NHS.
For more information about St Richard’s Hospice visit www.strichards.org.uk
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Key statistics from the Charity Retail Association — www.charityretail.org.uk/key-statistics
- Charity shops contribute £331million a year to parent charities
- Charity shops save councils £31million a year in waste disposal charges by divert 339,000 tonnes of textiles away from landfill or incineration
- Charity shops have more than 25,500 FTE employees
Find out where The Charity Shop Gift Card is being accepted across the UK at www.thecharityshopgiftcard.co.uk/stores
The Charity Shop Gift Card is the trading name of Gift Card CIC a social enterprise. The majority of any operating profit will be converted into gift cards and donated to support agencies to help those most in need.
More information about St Richard’s Hospice
Who does St Richard’s Hospice care for?
St Richard’s cares for people with a serious progressive illness who have complex needs which cannot be met by other services. These include cancer, and neurological, respiratory, cardiac and renal conditions.
All its services are available to people registered with a South Worcestershire GP. The St Richard’s In-patient Unit cares for people across Worcestershire.
St Richard’s cares for people by:
- involvement in the course of a person’s illness alongside other therapies that are intended to prolong life
- enabling people to manage their illness and remain independent for as long as possible
- helping people to control their pain and other worrying symptoms
- helping people with emotional, social, practical and spiritual issues
- supporting families and carers before and through bereavement
- working in partnership with other health care providers and organisations
- encouraging wider understanding that death is a part of life
- supporting the local community to be well informed about the care available to them
- supporting the health and social care workforce through education to provide high-quality, individualised care.
Where they care
St Richard’s offers free care and support for people in the hospice, in the community, in GP surgeries, at clinics or by telephone.
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