Southend Hospital Charity Shops are back open from 2 December
Hospital charity shops in Leigh Broadway, Hadleigh and Hamlet Court Road will be back welcoming shoppers and people donating items from Wednesday 2 December.
Shop managers and volunteers have been working behind the scenes to reopen in the run up to Christmas.
As before, each shop will have enhanced health and safety and social distancing measures to protect staff, volunteers and customers, helping to ensure safe shopping.
Lucy Thomas-Clayton, Director of Charities and Voluntary Services at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’ll still be accepting donations, but only on Tuesdays and Fridays. This is so all the donated items can be guaranteed for the suggested 72 hours and cleaned before they are available to buy.”
“And we are sure to have some fantastic quirky items for Christmas, so look forward to seeing new and regular customers alike. We’ve missed you all, and this is a great way to continue supporting Southend Hospital.”
The charity shops will be open Monday to Saturday between 9.30am and 4.30pm, allowing staff to clean the shop thoroughly before opening. Staff will also be cleaning throughout the day which will include regularly disinfecting high touch points such as door handles and handrails.
All employees have been trained appropriately and the shops are asking customers to follow the two-metre apart social distancing guidelines in their shops - floor markers have been put in place to help with this. Hand sanitiser stations will be provided in each shop for customers to use.
There will be a reduced number of customers allowed in the stores at any one time so you may be asked to queue outside. The shops have temporarily closed fitting rooms and will only be accepting contactless and card payments.