We have now closed all the shops, apart from the Charity shop in Pickering. This was Hebden Bridge shop when we closed the doors last night, Sunday the 13th February, for the last time. The amount of people that came in over the last three days, wanting us to stay but understanding and wishing us well was unbelievable. One lady actually said that she had moved to Hebden Bridge as she liked the shops, especially ours, so much.
What struck me most though is that most of the customers thought that the shop had been run by volunteers, sadly that was never the case. The wages alone were around £40k.
The landlord was amazing and didn’t want us to go and didn’t increase the rent. But with everything else going up in April, we decided that we couldn’t take on another lease.
Thanks to my friends/volunteers who came to help over the weekend. It was a mammoth task but we did it. The surplus stock went to Shelter and Overgate and i really hope that Overgate take on our lovely shop.
Moving forward we are financially stretched to say the least….
If anyone could set up a monthly donation via the website it will be very much appreciated, no matter how small.
I have some good news however that I will be sharing soon…
Deb and all @ Tia