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Like all Hospices, St Joseph’s only receives a proportion of its funding from the NHS and government contracts, this means we need to raise a massive £7 million each year through fundraising to keep the hospice services running.

 

Retail Charity Shops are a fairly new addition for St Joseph’s, unlike many hospices around the country who have historically relied on them for a large part of their fundraising income.

At St Joseph’s, Retail plays a valuable role in generating funds for the Hospice through the sale of good value sustainable items to the local community, that have been donated by our generous supporters and for many years the Hospice was renowned for its jumble sales. These were no ordinary jumble sales, they were on a huge scale, with pre-loved items on sale in every corner of the Hospice and hundreds of people attending to pick up a bargain.

Hackney has changed in recent years but along with the other boroughs we serve, Tower Hamlets and Newham, there is still higher than average poverty among residents. The jumble sales were a lifeline for some local people as they could buy clothes and toys for their children and other necessary household items that may have been out of their financial reach.

Around five years ago we ventured into the world of charity shops opening a shop at 77 Mare Street, just over the road to the Hospice, to sell affordable items all year round. We were also fortunate to have a benefactor who loaned us a rent-free shop in Well Street to use until a tenant came on board. As well as selling items at a low price point, the Well Street store has become a community Hub for local people who will often just pop in for a chat.

The stores fall under the Five Sisters brand – Five Sisters to acknowledge the five sisters of charity who arrived from Dublin in the early 1900s to set up the Hospice, their mission to help the poor and dying of East London.

Sadly, jumble sales had to stop during COVID but the donations of pre-loved items kept on coming. So we had to look at a new way of selling them to the public – this came in the form of the £1 sale, £1 entry and £1 per item, a simple but successful model. The £1 sales were initially held outside due to COVID restrictions and were on a much smaller scale than the jumble sales, but they are now run four times a year and have now moved back inside the Hospice. Who knows, maybe we’ll return to the jumble sales of old in the future.

In January 2024 we opened our second permanent Five Sisters Charity Shop, at 379 Mare Street, Hackney and just a few months ago opened a permanent shop in Well Street, just next door to our original shop. The shops are run by paid staff and our fabulous volunteers.

Our retail offering serves a dual purpose, to bring in much needed funds to the Hospice but maybe more importantly to help local people in need, that is our mission after all.

If you are interested in volunteering in one of our charity shops, email Julie, j.whetton@stjh.org.uk.