No luck on pop-up shop Card charity is frustrated

OFFICIALS from the Cards for Good Causes charity have been frustrated in their bid to find a pop-up site in Cheltenham this year.

In October, it warned that local and national charities would lose out on thousands of pounds if it could not find somewhere to go to in the town.

The organisation, which runs the largest network of charity Christmas card shops across the country, usually has a strong presence in Cheltenham.

But this year it has not been able to find a site to have a shop of it own - despite issuing a public appeal for help.

Spokeswoman Lyn O’toole said: “Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to secure an empty shop this year despite the fact there are still empty shops in the town.

“To say it has been frustrating is an understatement.

“Our cards and goods are on sale at The Wilson but we have always managed to rent an empty shop every year up to now as well as running The Wilson.”

She added: “I still haven’t given up on our search. We still have plenty of stock to sell and an army of volunteers to step in at a moment’s notice.”

She said she had chased an empty shop in High Street since July and kept being told new tenants were moving in but still it remains empty.

“It’s so annoying when we could have had two months’ trading by now,” she said.

The Cheltenham town centre shop has traditionally been one of Cards for Good Causes’ top five nationally in terms of the money it raises, often bringing in over £100,000 for charities each year when it used to have a location in the Beechwood Shopping Centre.

Nationally, Cards for Good Causes has raised more than £40million for the charities in partners in the past 10 years.

Anyone able to help with the Cheltenham site search should contact Lyn, at Lyn.otoole@cfgc. org.uk. robin.jenkins@reachplc.com