Springhill Hospice opens new shop in Milnrow

Honora Crisp (Springhill Hospice); Hospice mascot, Springy; Paul Waugh MP; Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Shakil Ahmed and Alex Haddock (Springhill Hospice)

Milnrow shoppers were out in force recently as they headed to the newest Springhill Hospice shop. Opened on 16 November by the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Shakil Ahmed and Paul Waugh MP this is the first time Springhill has had a retail offering in Milnrow.

Springhill Hospice also has shops in Littleborough, Middleton, on Oldham Road in Rochdale and its furniture outlet, the Emporium as well as a gift shop for their new goods in the hospice itself; all of which fund palliative care across the wider Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale areas.

Building on the success of the opening of their new shop in Heywood last November, the Milnrow store, found next to Aldi on Elizabethan Way, the hospice hopes to bring even more money in to help keep the hospice and all its services running. Last financial year Springhill Hospice’s retail outlets together brought in just short of £550,000 but even with that income the hospice was running on an £800,000 deficit. Many hospices have been forced to reduce services and some have even had to close over the past few years but Springhill is determined to do everything it can to survive in spite of only receiving government funding covering 17% of its running costs.

The Milnrow shop is open seven days a week and sells a range of goods including ladies’ and men’s clothes, homewares, children’s toys and books. It also has an exciting new area for records which was packed with vinyl hunters on opening day, snapping up some amazing vintage finds.

One shopper commented: “It really doesn’t feel like a charity shop at all. The layout and the décor is like a high street chain, it’s lovely. There’s loads of really good stuff too. I didn’t realise they sold new bits so I’ve bagged loads of stuff for Christmas presents. I love all the sustainability messaging too, it makes me feel slightly less guilty about how many things I’ve bought!”

Alex Haddock, head of income generation and marketing for Springhill said: “I’m thrilled by the response we’ve had from customers, and not just in terms of sales. The comments we’ve had have been great too about how nice the shop is and how much they want to support us.

“I’ve had a few people in the shop today telling me about their experience with a loved one being cared for by Springhill in their final days, and how much we have helped them. Comments like that really make all the hard work the team has put in to getting the shop up and running so worthwhile. They really feel like what they do is making a difference.”