Tenant talk with Children’s Hospice South West
Centre manager Simon Whiting met with Glynnis, Store manager for Children’s Hospice South West to have a chat about the organisation, the store and how Glynnis found herself working for such a great cause.
It struck me when I first walked into Willow Brooks Children’s Hospice Southwest. An air of sophistication and enterprise, it feels like a shop, not a charity shop, it feels like an all-for-profit business. In a sense it is.
All profits from this shop, and over thirty others across the Southwest go directly to the Children’s Hospice.
For over thirty years Children’s Hospice Southwest has been caring for children and young people with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions by providing hospice care and professional family support services. The care offered at each of the three hospices is not just about medical and nursing support for sick children and young people but enriching the lives of them and their whole family.
The driving force behind Willow Brook’s shop and its successes can be attributed to the same reason it does not feel like a “typical” charity shop. One reason…. Glynnis Eaton.
I sat down with Glynnis to discuss her shop and to better understand how it operates and more crucially, how we, the public can help. I realised very quickly that there was more to Glynnis than meets the eye, just like her shop!
Glynnis has a retail background, a very prominent and well-rounded background including high-end fashion powerhouses such as Windsmore, Phase Eight and Wallis. The knowledge that Glynnis has obtained throughout her career has been to the Children’s Hospice benefit. Visual merchandising tricks of the trade are evident throughout the store, as is a clearly defined customer experience.
“When I started in January 2020, I was tasked with overhauling the store and improving the customer experience. The pandemic provided me with the platform to do just this,” Glynnis says beaming with pride.
Another fortuitous USP at Willow Brook’s shop is our local community and Glynnis is quick to point this out.
“Our community is amazing, without them we would not be able to operate as a viable business, some of the items that are donated are top quality, brand names that you may not necessarily expect to see at a charity shop. Items that could very easily be sold on Vinted are donated to us which goes to show the type of community we live and work in.”
Glynnis speaks with an abundancy of pride about her job, with the end goal always being in sight. “We have three children’s hospices that we run, it costs £12million per year to run those three hospices, these hospices are there to support the family of the children in respite or end of life. There is an aftercare program also, this service is free as the real price has already been paid” Glynnis said with clear honest emotion being displayed.
Our conversation moved back and forth but there was always an underlying sense of determination from Glynnis. This was evident more so when we spoke about customers’ expectations and exasperations. “At times we are viewed as an alternative to visiting the local sort it centre, for obvious reasons we are unable to take everything, we simply do not have the space and there are items that should never be resold! We must be selective in what we can receive as we want to provide the best possible quality to our customers so that in turn, we generate sales for the Hospice.”
Glynnis suggests that “when donating you could ask yourself, would I buy this?”
Glynnis desire to give back, coupled with her expert retail eye, has meant that not only does the Willow Brooks Childrens Hospice shop present well and invite customers in, but it also serves as a vital backbone to extremely important funds that ensure the Children’s Southwest Hospice can maintain its mission. Simply put, donations made, and items purchased within Glynnis’s shop make huge differences to those needing support at the most trying of times.
Glynnis is always interested in welcoming new volunteers to her shop and cites the work they do as cohesive, important and for some, a social output. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer all you have to do is visit the store and speak with Glynnis or a member of the team who will be more than happy to help.
It’s easy as a consumer to overlook the reasoning behind a business but after considering South West Children’s Hospice for a moment, you have to tip you hat to the noble efforts of all of those involved, in particular, Glynnis and her steadfast team of employees and volunteers, people who are genuinely making a difference.
Willow Brooks Southwest Children’s Hospice Shop, a secondhand shop yes……but a premium team with a premium reason.
On Saturday 31st August CHSW held a family funday fundraiser at Willow Brook.
There was free face painting, glitter tattoo’s, balloon modelling and the summer beach and garden made the perfect base for this.
Mcdonalds kindly donated hundreds of fruit bags and bottles of water to be given out at the event.
Through a coffee and cake sale, craft stall, tombola and raffle, CHSW managed to raise a whopping £1,492!!!
Pictured: Simon – Centre Manager, Sophie – Marketing Manager, Glynnis – CHSW Store Manager and Amanda – CHSW Area Fundraiser