Princess Alice Hospice re-opened its Weybridge High Street store on Wednesday 4 April. The shop has been closed for an extensive period of maintenance and the retail team took the opportunity to create a mini department store look that incorporates furniture and home furnishings, as well as the usual fashion and book sections as well as unusual items such as a pre-war children’s doll from Japan.
Princess Alice Hospice has been caring for people in Weybridge for over 25 years and has had a visual presence in the town through a High street shop for more than 28 years. Weybridge was the location for the charity’s very first shop; a unit was donated by Barclays Bank and the shop was set up by three Friends of Princess Alice Hospice committees.
The shop then relocated to its current location on the High Street and was opened by local resident and actress Hannah Gordon. One person, who remembers all of the achievements of the passing decades, is Val Swaddle, long term Friend of the Hospice and shop Volunteer for 28 years and counting.
Val who as part of the Esher and Claygate Friends committee - along with the Spelthorne and Walton and Weybridge committees - played a pivotal role in establishing the first Hospice shops celebrated the opening with fellow volunteers and retail staff and Nicki Shaw, Chief Executive of Princess Alice Hospice.
Val said: ‘It is amazing to think that the Hospice now has a professional retail operation with 34 shops - including two specialist furniture showrooms – and a distribution centre. If someone had said all those years ago that the one shop we decided to open would lead to so many more, I would not have believed it. It is wonderful that we have so many shops and that they help to raise so much money for a vitally important local cause.’
The shop has an extensive range of new and second hand furniture, home wares and furnishings as well as the usual clothing, books, DVDs, cds and collectibles. The shop will be welcoming customers seven days a week, with opening hours Monday to Saturday of 9.30am - 5pm and 10am - 4pm on Sundays.
The charity is able to collect large items of saleable furniture and can arrange house clearances, so if you have any items that you want to donate to the Weybridge store or the specialist Furniture Stores in Epsom and Kingston, please call the Hospice’s dedicated furniture line on 020 8547 2710 to discuss or arrange collection of saleable items.
Below: Weybridge volunteers celebrate as shop re-opens!
