Last night we took £15 in three hours at the Samaritans shop in Blackpool's Topping Street, it is demoralising

Olivia Tudor, is the branch director for the Samaritans charity shop in Blackpool.

She said: “It’s been a challenge, the issue is footfall in the town centre.

“This year sometimes trade has been good and sometimes trade has been bad. I don’t think the area is getting the traction or the footfall that it deserves.”

The charity shop branch is aiming to take £1,000 a week but most weeks is only hitting £650.

Mrs Tudor said: “There is a guy a few doors down, who has a record shop, he has said the same some days it’s great some days its not.

“The weather has not been great and that discourages people wandering up to the the top end of town.”

Other reasons Mrs Tudor thinks her branch and other businesses are not getting the footfall they seserve include traffic in town and a lack of footfall in the town centre despite it being the run up to Christmas.

Mrs Tudor said: “We expected to be a lot busier, even the summer holidays were nowhere near what we would have expected. We have opened on a Thursday evening for late night shopping and last night we took £15 in three hours and it is demoralising.”

The Samaritans charity provides emotional support over the phone 24/7 to vulnerable and struggling people. The business is its own charity branch here in Blackpool and has to raise its own money to keep itself afloat. It has to pay its central office a fee to keep the branch open. it costs £192 to keep it open.

Mrs Tudor said: “If we aren't able to keep the shop making money and bringing in sales to hit £1,000 per week then we will need to look at different ways to manage and source our income.”

The shop’s income has been declining over the past few years. They have also struggled to get volunteers for the shop too.

The charity shop is staking a lot of its hopes for increased footfall on the new DWP offices opening in Blackpool in the near future.