Third Charity Shop for Ruddington

Our Nottinghamshire Hospice and Honeycomb Christian Charity shops will soon have company – as an established national charity for vulnerable children and young people prepares to open an outlet in the village.

The Children’s Society, which already has half a dozen branches in Nottinghamshire, will be soon be fundraising from 2 Easthorpe Street. Apart from a few months as Crusader Gifts‘ clearance shop, this unit has more or less sat empty since Something Special moved out of there around two years’ ago.

The Children’s Society’s Regional Retail Manager, Dominique Scott, told RUDDINGTON.info: “We are always looking for new shops to expand within Nottinghamshire and we absolutely love the village of Ruddington. We have a shop close by already, at Compton Acres, which has been very successful, and we know lots of our customers live in Ruddington. We also feel that, whilst there are other charity shops, rather than taking away from them we can add something a little different to the area – and having a few charity shops together can bring increased business to all the local charities.”

Their Compton Acres shop only reopened last June, following a long closure due to a serious fire, and will continue to trade alongside the new Ruddington branch.

Dominique promises: “We will be selling good quality ladies, gents and kids clothing and accessories, bric a brac, books, media, toys, greetings cards. Our lease is currently being finalised and as soon as we have possession of the keys we will advertise some donation days. In the meantime we will gladly accept donations at Compton Acres. We are also currently appealing for volunteers to join our team and to help support and run the shops at both Ruddington and Compton Acres… serving customers, processing donations, steaming, display work, etc”.

Some history? The charity was founded in 1881 by a Sunday school teacher who discovered two missing children from his class begging for food. In partnership with the Church of England, Edward Rudolph set up The Children’s Society – starting up children’s homes around the country.

“Today our vision is a country where children are free from disadvantage” explains Dominique. “We worked with over 13,000 vulnerable children and young people last year, while our campaign wins will bring change to more than 3 million. As a charity retailer we help raise money from our good works and also offer great quality items at fair prices to local communities, as well as offering volunteering opportunities for those looking for something worthwhile to do with their free time – perhaps to gain new skills or utilise existing ones – or to gain work experience, complete a Duke of Edinburgh Award or maybe just to build their own confidence or to meet people. Our volunteers really enjoy working with us and we couldn’t run our shops without them. We offer full training and support, endless cups of tea, and guarantee no two days will ever be the same!”

Once their opening date in Ruddington is confirmed we will let you know. Meantime, if you’re interested in helping out, please contact Dominique now on 0771 398 4736 or you can send her an email at dominique.scott@childrenssociety.org.uk.

She adds: “We are very much looking forward to opening our shop in Ruddington in 2018 and hope to see members of the local community as volunteers, donors and / or customers to help us raise money for disadvantaged and vulnerable children here in England.”