We’regladtobeback
Dear Editor,
Our shops across Scotland, including our busy shop in Wishaw, are hugely important to funding our services which support vulnerable children and families across the area in many different ways.
The closure of our shops has had a significant impact on our ability to raise funds for those services.
At the same time, the effects of the pandemic meant the demand for our services was at its greatest in recent years, so we were keen to reopen our stores as quickly and efficiently as possible – and making sure they were safe for our customers.
We have been implementing a phased opening of our stores across Scotland and it’s great to see and welcome customers back in our stores across Lanarkshire in Wishaw, shopping and delivering bags of donations.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to your readers, our customers for their loyalty and continued support.
It is very much appreciated and much needed by our services.
Due to their support, over the whole week sales in our shops were only 30 per cent lower than normal, this was to be expected as footfall in the high streets is lower than pre-pandemic and our shops are operating with slightly reduced hours – so thank you again.
Please be aware that our customer safety is priority and we have introduced some new measures in store to protect staff and customers which include Perspex screens at till points; hand sanitiser station at the entrance of the store; restricted customer numbers; social distancing requirements, and the changing rooms in store will remain closed.
We are also advising customers to call ahead before dropping off any donations to ensure the shop is able to take the items.
You can find your local store by searching on our website and we would love to hear from anyone who is interesting in volunteering with us in our shops - visit barnardos.org.uk/ scotland
Martin Crewe, director Barnardo’s Scotland