A NEWPORT hospice has seen a dramatic increase in donations since it reopened its shops after lockdown.

St David’s Hospice Care says it has received an 'phenomenal' volume of donations after reopening most of its 38 shops.

Workers and volunteers have been very busy sorting through the mass of donations for hospice shops in Gwent and Powys.

“It was devastating when the shops had to close in March. We wondered how we would survive going forward, and if people would still support us as the lockdown was lifted," said chief executive Emma Saysell.

“In actual fact we have been inundated with donations from people, and supported beyond anything I could have imagined.”

St David’s Hospice Care stress the importance of quality donations, as the hospice says the cost of disposing of materials they cannot sell is steep.

Ms Saysell said: “It is very important that donations are of good quality. It doesn't help the charity if they aren’t.

“However, the quality of the donations we have had recently has been amazing. People’s generosity has been phenomenal."

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St David’s Hospice Care needs £9m a year in order to run its various services in the community. Earlier in the year, when all the major fundraising events were cancelled and the shops were closed, it meant that there would be far less money coming in.

Ms Saysell said: “We are not reaching the income that we were pre-Covid, but we are raising about 70 per cent of that, which is a good start.

“It is not looking likely that we will be able to hold any fundraising events in 2020, but we are hopeful to be able to run them again in 2021.”

St David’s Hospice Care are extremely grateful for the donations and want to encourage people to keep giving so all of their 38 shops can stay stocked.

Emma said: “There is a direct link between the donations people are giving and us being able to continue hospice care throughout Gwent and South Wales.”

Donations of clothes, bric-a-brac, books, household items and other goods can be taken to St David's Hospice Care's central depot at Cwmbran at or alternatively, to your local shop.

For information on how to donate materials to shops, call 01633 867138. The address of the depot in Torfaen is Unit 1, Block 1, Withey Court, Ty Coch Way, Cwmbran, NP44 7EZ.