Trinity Hospice opens first South Shore donation centre

The hub, which opened at the Woodman Centre on Vicarage Lane on Monday, is the third of its kind on the Fylde coast. Other Trinity Hospice donation centres can be found on Talbot Road in Blackpool, and on Sefton Road in St Annes.

It will be used primarily as a place of storage for stock, which will then be sold to add to the £5m the Bispham-based hospice needs to raise each year to keep going.

Head of retail Paul Guest said: “The purpose of the donation station is to get more stock. Until now, we haven’t had a donation station in south Blackpool. Now all the residents who live there who do support Trinity can easily drop their products off.

"From there, we will be moving the stock to our shops, which will in turn generate income to support the hospice.

"This is our first donation centre in south Blackpool. It’s taken around four weeks to get it truly up and sorted, so it has been really quick. We are selling furniture there, and furniture can be donated there, but its main purpose will be for storage.

“Every penny counts. We're hoping this unit will generate between £80,000 and £90,000 per year, though we haven’t got an exact figure we’re aiming for. With the extra income, we can provide extra nurses, extra staff, and offer even more superior care for terminally ill people than which we already offer.”