Several Hospice shops to reopen and begin accepting certain donation items from Tuesday 19 May 2020

Hospice Isle of Man will begin re-opening several of its Island-wide shops and Superstore in response to the Isle of Man Government’s announcement on Thursday 14 May. Like so many organisations during the pandemic, Hospice has seen a rapid drop in funding due to the temporary closure of its shops and the cancellation of all social and community fundraising events until further notice.

The Hospice Shops re-opening plan includes:

• The initial reopening of the Strand Street Douglas and Castletown shops and the Spring Valley Douglas Superstore only, from Tuesday 19 May 2020 between 10am and 2pm.
• The acceptance of clothing and smaller items such as crockery, glassware, cutlery, ornaments, pictures, books, toys, puzzles etc. at its Spring Valley Superstore only, between 10am and 2pm from Tuesday 19 May 2020.
• The reconfiguration of its shops and Superstore to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
• The use of PPE equipment and other protective measures such as availability of hand sanitiser and sneeze guards at points of sale.
• The acceptance of card payments only, preferably contactless.
• The Hospice Island-wide donation bins will remain closed until further notice.

Hospice Isle of Man has also announced that whilst it is reconfiguring its shop network, it will commence a shops refresh aimed at enhancing shoppers’ retail experience.

The shops refresh includes:

• The renaming of the Spring Valley Douglas, Hospice Warehouse to Hospice Superstore.
• The Castletown store sees an addition of a children’s clothing and nursery department – however toy and clothing donations can only be made its Spring Valley Superstore at present.

Announcing the plan, Anne Mills, Chief Executive at Hospice Isle of Man, said:

“We are cautiously optimistic following the Government’s announcement that will see a number of retail outlets across our Island begin to re-open. The temporary closure of our shops has had a significant impact on our fundraising income and activities, costing us around £40,000 a month during the lockdown period. But we have a fantastically generous and loyal supporter-base who have continued to help us during these unprecedented times. Some residents who would usually visit our shops for a browse or to buy books or other items, have continued to donate to us online or donate £2 at one of our new Tap2Donate contactless donation terminals located in selected SPAR stores around the Island, or at our new Tap2Donate window terminal at our Strand Street Douglas shop.

“We know that many people have had a Spring Clean during the lockdown, sorting and storing their items before donating them to us and we are really looking forward to receiving these items from Tuesday to help us to continue helping those who need us.”