Sussex Charities Launch First Shopping Gift Card

Three Sussex charities have launched a gift card that can be spent in their fundraising shops across the area.

The dedicated Charity Shop Gift Card has been developed in partnership with the Charity Retail Association and is available to buy and spend in Crawley-based St Catherine's 14 shops, Chichester-based St Wilfrid's Hospice's 12 shops, and the eight run by Brighton's Martlets Hospice.

The aim is to encourage local people to shop in more sustainable and socially responsible way that will raise vital funds for the important work of local charities and to help reduce them amount of unwanted items being sent to landfill.

The gift cards themselves are made from recycled card and are compostable. 

St Catherine’s has shops across Sussex and Surrey including in Burgess Hill, Crawley, Dorking, Horsham, Oxted and Reigate, allhelping to raise vital funds to enable the charity to continue to provide physical, spiritual, and emotional care for those living with a terminal illness, and their families.

St Wilfrid's shops are in Eastbourne, Uckfield, Heathfield, Hailsham, Seaford, and Herstmonceux. Sales from each go towards providing vital care to those in our community who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting, terminal illness, and support for their family and loved ones.  

Martlets' shops in Brighton, Hove, Peacehaven, Saltdean, and Woodingdean support the charity in providing essential care to people affected by terminal illness.

Martlets volunteer John Driver and Nick Maskell, assistant shop manager.
 

Gary Powis, head of trading for St Catherine’s Hospice, said:

“We are so excited to now be offering Charity Shop Gift Cards in our stores. They are a fantastic way of encouraging our local community to shop more sustainably, whilst still supporting the vital work we do. We hope that joining this scheme will bring more customers through our doors so they can discover the quality preloved items we have on sale. We cannot wait to see the benefits this will have for our charity.”  

Rachael Tout, director of voluntary income for St Wilfrid’s Hospice, said: 

“We’re delighted to join a scheme which encourages shoppers to make sustainable choices, whilst supporting our vital care for individuals with terminal illnesses and their families. The revenue generated in our charity shops enables us to continue our work, so any strategy to increase this is greatly welcomed by the hospice.”  

Robert Parker, head of trading for Martlets, said: 

“The Charity Shop Gift Card will introduce people to our fantastic shops and to shopping sustainably while supporting a fantastic cause. Martlets, and other charity retailers, also offer a valuable way to counter the effects of the cost-of-living crisis that is affecting so many within our communities – the gift card will help more people access quality affordable items.”

Second-hand shopping has never been so popular with the Charity Retail Association (CRA) reporting rising year-on-year sales at member stores as more shoppers look for ways of spending their money in a more environmentally and socially conscious way.

The CRA has 450 members with 9,000 shops, and together they are already diverting over 300,000 tonnes of textiles away from landfill and contributing over £300million every year to help fund the work of their parent charities.

Lee Fellows, co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card, said:

 "Each time someone purchases The Charity Shop Gift Card they not only give the gift of thrift, but also contribute towards vital charitable causes. This double benefit is unique to our scheme, and we are delighted to that St Catherine’s, St Wilfrid's and Martlets are onboard, helping people across Sussex gift more sustainably, buy more consciously and support good causes."