Shops present £462,000 to Hospice Care

Pictured receiving the cheque from Shops Manager, Tina Lawton (centre),
is Terry Groves, Chairman of Share the Care and a Hospice Governor.
Also pictured here, left to right, are Florence Glover, Douglas Shop Manager,
Volunteer Jane Faragher, and Siobhan Ellison, Shops Admin Manager.

Records have been broken again by Hospice Shops. Our 20th Birthday year, 2008 has proved to be a record year culminating with handing over the magnificent sum of £462,000 to Hospice Isle of Man towards patient care costs.

“This has been a brilliant year for all the shops and furniture showrooms,” said Tina, Hospice Shops Manager. “Without the continuing generosity of the Manx people who donate all our goods to us and of the committed work and enthusiasm of our volunteers, none of this would happen really.”

“This is the perfect way to end the year for Hospice from our point of view,” said Terry Groves, Share the Care Chairman and Hospice Governor. “To think that this all comes from donated goods (with the exception of Christmas cards) speaks volumes for the support of the Isle of Man for Hospice. This is a great deal of money and our hope is that we continue to be given unwanted clothes and other items next year for us to sell.”

Terry Groves continued, “We had not expected to break last year's record at least in two of our shops; Ramsey had a full makeover in May which closed the shop for three weeks, but made up the loss soon after reopening. Castletown is in the midst of a major building project, with many of shops behind hoarding boards and therefore little reason for visitors to come shopping. But, despite all, visitors and Castletown residents, still shopped in our Arbory Street shop.”

“However, the credit goes to our seven Shop Managers and their volunteers greeting the public six days a week. The collective professionalism and enthusiasm, plus determination to do better year after year has resulted in yet more funds being made available for patient care. Congratulations and our deepest thanks.”