Whilst our village centre is now ‘buzzing’ again following the return of non-essential retail after a further easing of COVID-19 restrictions on April 12th, shoppers may have noticed there’s still no sign of life at one of Ruddington’s much loved charity shops.
The Children’s Society Shop at the corner of High Street and Easthorpe Street closed its doors over a year ago – at the beginning of the first Coronavirus ‘lockdown’ – and hasn’t traded again since. A notice on the door has long been directing TCS customers wishing to shop or make donations to their nearest branch at Compton Acres. Meantime, former manager Stephanie Reed has confirmed she has now been redeployed to manage the Arnold shop instead. Consequently, it seems our village branch faces a rather uncertain future.
Antony Richards, The Children’s Society’s regional retail manager, tells RUDDINGTON.info: “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges for staffing and unfortunately we have taken the difficult decision not to reopen our Ruddington shop for the time being. We are currently reviewing our options due to the difficulties with trading in a small shop with COVID restrictions and also with the Shop Manager having relocated.”
Ruddington’s TCS branch originally opened in March 2018 and quickly established itself as one of the favourite shops to browse around during a ‘Ruddy Good Day Out’ until its closure just two years’ later.
Mr Richards adds: “Customers can still support The Children’s Society by visiting our nearby Compton Acres Shop. We will keep RUDDINGTON.info updated with any change but the shop will remain closed in the meantime.”
Needless to say, we’ll keep you posted with any further news we hear.
