23rd December 2005

Local charity St Giles Hospice, which cares for people living with cancer and other serious illnesses, is offering to give unwanted Christmas presents a new lease of life.

The hospice’s twelve charity shops - and specialist bookshops in Atherstone and in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield - are appealing for donations of gifts that can be sold to help fund the high-quality care the charity provides.

A wide range of products are welcome including items for the home, clothes, books, CDs, videos and DVDs.

Lynwen Truesdale, General Manager of St Giles Hospice Shops, explains: 'Christmas is the time for giving and receiving presents, but sometimes we all get gifts that we can’t find a use for – whether it’s something we already have, items we don’t need, or clothes that are the wrong size or style.

' All too often they end up stuffed in the back of a cupboard gathering dust, which is a terrible waste.

' We'd like to give these unwanted gifts a new lease of life by selling them in our shops where they will not only bring pleasure to others, but also help fund our valuable work in the local community.”

Donations of unwanted Christmas presents can be made at any of the hospice shops across the region, the details of which can be found by clicking here

Items can also be donated to the hospice shops’ warehouse at the Birchbrook Industrial Park in Shenstone on any weekday morning.

St Giles Hospice Shops play a vital role in funding the care offered by the hospice, a registered charity based in Whittington, near Lichfield.

The fourteen shops are based in major towns throughout the hospice's patient catchment area, which ranges from Ashby de la Zouch and Atherstone in the east, to Cannock and Walsall in the west – and from Burton and Uttoxeter in the north, to Sutton Coldfield and Coleshill in the south.

In addition, a clothing warehouse for donations and a furniture warehouse offering a wide range of high-quality furniture at value-for-money prices, are based in Shenstone, near Lichfield. A selection of furniture is also available at the Cannock and Wylde Green shops.

Last year the hospice shops raised a total of £543,000 – and every penny is desperately needed by St Giles. The charity spends over £5million caring for local people with cancer and other serious illnesses, as well as providing support for their families and carers, and relies heavily on the support of local people to enable its valuable work to continue.