Volunteers are busy getting everything ready for the annual charity card shop to open in St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury.
The shop will be open 10.15 a.m. to 4.15 p.m; Monday to Saturday from Friday 22nd October to Saturday 4th December. Additionally, this year shop will also open on Sunday 21st November when the popular annual Shrewsbury Chocolate Festival will be taking place in the church. The Chocolate Festival hosts food demonstrations, offers lots of home-made chocolate products to taste and buy, with chocolatiers coming from across the UK.
This year 33 local and national charities will be participating. The National Trust and Signal are newcomers and there will also be cards and calendars sold on behalf of charities who have been involved in the card shop for many years. Charities include for example Severn Hospice, The League of Friends of The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, Age UK, Save The Children, and Guide Dogs, to name a few. The shop is manned entirely by volunteers with no paid staff.
Christine Sower, Secretary, Shrewsbury Charity Christmas Card Shop said: “Most of the volunteers have links with a particular charity but, following an appeal on Radio Shropshire and in local press, twenty individuals will also be helping in the shop this year. In 2020, despite having to close and reopen due to a Covid lockdown, just under £60,000 worth of cards were sold in 20 days trading and we hope to emulate or improve on this in 2021. The Chocolate Festival is a superb way to discover and enjoy high-quality, home-made ethically produced chocolate so please come and support the charities and also enjoy some ‘chocolate heaven’!
Pictured: Severn Hospice volunteers Hilary Adlington and Sandra Law with Lorraine Clorley of the Hospice Superstore in Beacalls Lane, Shrewsbury.