On Thursday 28th June our West Byfleet shop celebrated being open for 25 years with a tea party for volunteers past and present along with our founder and life president Rhod Lofting.
When West Byfleet opened we only had two other shops in Woking and Chobham and it was run entirely by volunteers, the basement of the shop was used as the sorting centre and volunteers would use their own cars to move stock between the shops.
Today the shop is run by manager Tracey Morey, assistant manager Travis Tansley who originally joined as a volunteer and a team of 23 volunteers
“It was a struggle to get the lease in the first place when we were outbid by a Double Glazing Company, however we won the lease and took the shop over in 1993 and we have been here ever since.” Our founder Rhod Lofting says. “In the last 25 years there has been a lot of changes to the shop, I first painted the shop when we took it over my wife Elizabeth used to drive past and see me working away. It is a very special shop to Woking & Sam Beare Hospices with it being one of our first, all the volunteers that have worked here have been fantastic, some of them still volunteering to this day 25 years later.”
All this week our seventeen retail shops across North West Surrey will be decked out in purple and blue promoting the Woking & Sam Beare Hospices Lottery.
Visit any of our shops to purchase a single ticket for this week’s draw or why not sign up to be a regular player giving you the chance to win £1000 every week together with 24 other cash prizes.
“It’s a win, win situation as with our Hospice Lottery you can be confident that all the profits go directly to helping us provide our vital services” commented Carole Miles Lottery and Raffles Manager.
Results can be found on our website following the draw on a Friday morning, via the link on social media, displayed in our shops from Saturday or listen to Brooklands FM at 1.30pm every Friday as the results are announced.
We were very saddened to discover that our charity shop on Station Pararde, East Horsley was broken into during the late hours of Thursday 18th January, the shop safe was taken which contained cash.
“The money taken from East Horsley was raised by the community through their donations and support” commented Jayne Cooper CEO “The shop is run by an extremely hard working team of volunteers and staff and we all feel extremely upset that a charity has been targeted this way”.
The shop was closed over the weekend to enable the police to finish their investigation and for any damages incurred to be repaired, ensuring the shop is made secure.
The Woking & Sam Beare Hospices charity shops are vital to our fundraising which enables us to provide specialist palliative care to people with life-limiting conditions, as well as supporting their carers and families.
East Horsley is one of our seventeen charity shops across North Surrey you can find your local shop here.
18th November 2017
Weybridge shops celebrate 10 year anniversary
On Thursday 16th November the Sam Beare Charity shop and book shop celebrated ten years of trading on Weybridge High Street where they have been raising funds and awareness for both the hospices.
To mark this special occasion the Mayor and Consort, Councillor Rachael Lake and Ian Lake visited both shops along with Micheal Aspel Patron to the charities. They met and chatted with members of staff and the team of volunteers who help run these wonderful shops.
“The shops are a real asset to the high street” commented Mayor Rachel Lake ” The window displays always look beautiful and the staff are very helpful”.
Visitors to the shops were treated to goody bags and thanked for their support, most were shocked it was ten years they had been open and complemented the staff and the quality of the items available.
“Although the original Sam Beare Hospice Building has closed the community team is still based in Weybridge and they are an integral part of the care we deliver” commented Liz Cussans HR & Volunteer Services Director “Over 70% of the care we provide is in the patients own homes by our community teams 365 days of the year”.
If you would like to donate any quality items to the shop or your time to help support the patient-centered charity, please visit your local shop Find your local charity shop you can also find more For more information on volunteering visit here