A CHARITY shop which has raised tens of thousands of pounds for cancer patients is set to close its doors.
Fund-raisers have taken the decision to close the Macmillan Cancer Support store on March 31 after more than 20 years based in Redditch, 15 of which have been at its current location in Unicorn Hill.
The shop, which was set up by Alan and Pat Lipscomb together with Ida Parkinson – the first Macmillan nurse in the county – has made a huge contribution to the £881,000 raised by the Redditch and District Committee of the charity in the past two decades.
The committee ‘reluctantly concluded’ the shop had no long-term future after experiencing a gradual decline in income over the past four years, mainly due to the declining footfall on the road.
Chairman Philip Roberts said: “A number of our fantastic shop volunteers, who have run the shop for many years, are now retiring and like other organisations we have found it very difficult to find replacements.
“On top of all this, the Redditch shop is one of only five remaining in the UK and after a careful review of the options, Macmillan have decided to focus their resources on other areas of fund-raising.
“The whole committee is disappointed that we find it necessary to close the shop, but we will continue our other fund-raising efforts and find new ways to keep supporting this fantastic charity.
“We want to thank all our loyal customers, local trades people who have provided services and of course our volunteer managers and staff who have run the shop over many years.”
