11 June 2004

St Giles Hospice is appealing for enthusiastic volunteers to help with the local charity’s latest exciting new venture – a dedicated bookshop.

The new shop, located at 284a Lichfield Road, in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, is due to open next month and will help raise funds to support St Giles’ valuable work caring for local people living with cancer and other serious illnesses.

The shop will stock a wide choice of high-quality, second-hand books including fiction, children’s titles, leisure, literature, travel, the arts, reference, and antiquarian volumes.

St Giles Hospice Shops General Manager Lynwen Truesdale explains: “We are very excited about the opening of our new shop and are currently seeking volunteers to help sort donated books and serve customers.

“Specialist knowledge is not essential, but an interest in books is preferred.

“We are also looking for donations of high-quality second-hand books – and in particular paperback fiction – to help stock the shelves.”

In addition, the new shop will sell a selection of clocks, cameras, binoculars, pictures, and a range of new goods including stationery, gifts and greetings cards.

To volunteer to help at the new bookshop, or for more information, contact the charity’s Mere Green shop on 0121 323 4645.

The bookshop opening in early July will bring the charity’s network of hospice shops across the region to thirteen. The other twelve shops will continue to sell a small selection of books alongside other donated and new items.

Donations of books and any other unwanted items, can be made at any hospice shop, the details of which are as follows:

ALDRIDGE 35                             The Square Tel: 01922 744319

BURTON UPON TRENT                192 Station Street Tel: 01283 516218

CANNOCK                                  2 Wolverhampton Road Tel: 01543 574727

LICHFIELD                                 17 Tamworth Street Tel: 01543 262996

RUGELEY                                    4 Upper Brook Street Tel: 01889 576816

SUTTON COLDFIELD                  406 Birmingham Road Tel: 0121 384 7533
                                                  Wylde Green    
                        
                                                 39 Walmley Road Tel: 0121 250 2504
                                                 Walmley          
                         
                                                 300 Lichfield Road Tel: 0121 323 4645
                                                 Mere Green                              

                                                 28 Boldmere Road Tel: 0121 354 9748
                                                 Boldmere

SWADLINCOTE                          8 Midland Road Tel: 01283 551591

TAMWORTH                               7 Little Church Lane Tel: 01827 66077

WALSALL                                  40 Freer Street Tel: 01922 720922

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

The thirteen 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.

Last year the hospice shops raised a total of £586,000 – and every penny is desperately needed by St Giles. The charity spends over £4million caring for local people living 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.