As our keen supporters know, we operate a chain of 15 charity shops across Sheffield…everywhere from Stocksbridge in the north to Crystal Peaks in the south.
There are St Luke’s shops in Broomhill, Abbeydale, Chapeltown, Crookes, the city centre, City Road, Ecclesall, Firth Park, Gleadless, Hillsborough, Nether Edge and Woodseats, along with the St Luke’s Department Store due to open soon in Kilner Way Retail Park, Wadsley Bridge.
And it is those shops – and the people who support them – that raised almost £4m last year towards patient care costs, transforming pre-loved items into tailored care and support for those affected by terminal illness in Sheffield.
The shops are also a valuable way of sharing our message of care, bringing information right to the heart of the city’s most popular shopping areas and spreading information on how we can help people across Sheffield.
The importance of our retail operation cannot be underestimated – without the income they generate, it is likely that we would be able to care for 72 fewer patients on the In Patient Centre and more than 700 fewer patients in the community per year.
But as the cost-of-living crisis continues to have a massive impact on communities, the pressure increases to maintain sales and protect one of our most important funding lifelines.
It seems entirely appropriate, therefore, that this year’s Hospice Care Week – the national celebration of hospice care and its impact on communities across the country – should be focusing on the vital importance of retail.
This year’s campaign, running from October 7 to 13, is uncovering the shocking fact that hospices now get more funding from selling second-hand goods in their shops than they do from government - that means more funds from selling jeans, books and CDs than from the state.
And it acknowledges that while it is brilliant that hospice shops provide affordable everyday items for communities - and raise millions every year - it does not think it right that government funding is coming up short.
Right at the front line of retail fundraising for St Luke’s is Jonny Tozer, the Manager of our City Road shop, providing support in what could be seen as one of the city’s most disadvantaged areas.
Jonny has worked in retail since he was 16, eventually becoming an area manager for a major national department store chain at one of its prestige London stores.
When he faced redundancy, though, he decided that he wanted to take his retail experience in a new direction.
“I’d worked for a while for another charity but then a job came up at St Luke’s and I went for it because I wanted to help people and I wanted to work in a role where I could see the impact of what we are doing,” he says
In a prime position at Manor Top, the City Road store attracts a diverse range of customers.
“We have people coming in from Gleadless, Arbourthorne and the Manor estate so it’s a really different mix of cultures,” Jonny says.
“It’s very much a feeling of community and we are on first name terms with a lot of our customers - there’s a lot of genuinely lovely people round here and they want to help St Luke’s.”
A vital element of every St Luke’s shop is, of course, the volunteers who offer the daily support that keeps the doors open – and again for City Road that means a great level of diversity.
“I would say we are one of the most diverse shops in the St Luke’s chain,” Jonny explains.
“We have people from all walks of life volunteering with us, and they all support us for very different reasons.
“Some of our older volunteers especially will come in because it gives them a chance to be part of something – our customers might be the only people they see all week.
“Then we have younger volunteers who might be doing it as part of their Duke of Edinburgh scheme or who want work experience.
“The truth is that without a doubt, we wouldn’t be able to open the doors without them – they are vital to everything we do.
“We have about 32 volunteers at this shop but we always need more, especially people who are happy to work on the till.”
Whatever their reason for shopping or volunteering, Jonny is delighted that people keep coming through the doors and as the economic crisis continues, those numbers grow.
“Given the current climate especially, people really are looking for a bargain,” Jonny admits.
“A lot of people come in especially for children’s clothes, toys and games, things that are increasingly expensive and they are trying to stretch the purse strings.
“We do have our regulars – one guy comes in every day for CDs, we have a few furniture regulars and we have people come in specifically for DVDs – you see the same faces, they always gravitate to specific areas of the shop and you know what they are going to buy.
“We all work really hard and in the last financial year we were on the plus side every single week and we made some good money.
“I can’t deny that it’s been more of a struggle this year – with the cost of living crisis people don’t have so much money to spend.
“But City Road isn’t just a shop – it’s like a family and it’s lovely to be a part of that.”
On the other side of the city, our Firth Park shop – where Becky Mosley is manager - serves a similarly diverse community to City Road.
Like City Road manager Jonny, Becky came to us after working in other areas of the retail sector.
And like Jonny, she is always determined to give every customer the warmest possible welcome.
“I like to have the door open as often as we can because it creates a welcoming atmosphere in the store for the whole community,” she says.
“It’s about building relationships with our customers and by doing that, people are getting a better understanding of what we do and the fact that St Luke’s is for everybody in our community.”
Firth Park is not, she points out, one of Sheffield’s more affluent areas but it is one with a greater ethnic diversity.
“One of the things I love about working here is that although people don’t have a lot of money for themselves, they do support each other and I like that atmosphere of people looking out for each other – I think this area is really friendly,” she says.
Again, Becky is keen to point out that the success of everything the shop achieves depends to a great degree on its volunteers.
“Our volunteers are so helpful but they all have their own unique character,” she explains.
“It’s nice when some of the younger volunteers come in and they are perhaps a bit shy but then they start to blossom, they gain confidence and that’s really good to see.
“Everybody is welcome, we are all very friendly - and that’s something I always try to encourage.”
Like every shop across the city-wide chain, Firth Park stocks everything from family clothing to bric-a-brac.
“We get such a random mix of nice things donated to us, which is good because people are always looking for a bargain,” says Becky, adding that Firth Park alone has been known receive up to 190 bags full on donations in one week.
“One of the things I like is when people who don’t have so much themselves still make an effort to give and share what they have – again, it’s a nice community feeling.”
“I love being here and I have never worked in a company where I feel so much like I belong and I am listened to.
“I’ve had bad experiences in retail before where management didn’t want to listen, you were there just to do a job and the feedback was mainly negative, which affects your confidence.
“At St Luke’s people are more aware and they try to support you that much more and share their experiences, which is one of the things I like the most about working at St Luke’s.”