24th December 2004

St Giles Hospice, the local charity caring for people with cancer and other serious illnesses, is launching an appeal for unwanted Christmas presents.

Gifts that would have ended up gathering dust in the back of a cupboard can be donated to sell in the hospice’s twelve charity shops across the region - and the specialist bookshop in Mere Green.

And every penny from the proceeds will go to help fund the high-quality care the hospice provides.

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

Lynwen Truesdale, General Manager of St Giles Hospice Shops, said: “Christmas is the time for giving and receiving presents, but just occasionally we get a gift that we can’t find a use for – perhaps items we already have, things that we don’t need, or clothes that are the wrong size or style.

“We’d like to give these presents a new lease of life, and find them a home where they will be used and enjoyed instead of ending up stuffed in a cupboard, unwanted and unloved.”

Donations of unwanted Christmas presents can be made at any of the twelve hospice shops across the region, 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

Items can also be donated to the specialist bookshop at 284a Lichfield Road, in Mere Green or 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 thirteen 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 £607,000 – and every penny is desperately needed by St Giles. The charity spends over £4million 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.