A new Gift Aid scheme is being introduced at St Giles Hospice Shops to help supporters raise even more money for the charity – simply by continuing to donate high-quality items that can be sold.

Gift Aid offers an easy way to increase the amount donated to the hospice by allowing St Giles to reclaim tax worth 28p in every £1 sold.

Lynwen Truesdale, General Manager of St Giles Hospice Shops, explains: “By completing a form when they donate items at any of our 14 hospice shops across the area, anyone who is a UK taxpayer can help us to raise even more money to support the vital care we provide.

“For example, if something is sold by us for £5, the hospice would receive an additional £1.40 on top of the profits from the sale.

“This applies to any items, whether they are unwanted Christmas gifts, DVDs books, bric-a-brac or furniture, as well as quality men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, wedding and bridesmaids’ dresses.

“All we ask is that items donated are good quality, and things that people will want to buy.”

Once donors have signed up, they will receive a card which can be shown each time they donate items to the shops.

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

Last year they generated £525,000 for the charity, with every penny going towards caring for local people and supporting their families and carers.

The fourteen charity shops are located 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.