Stock is destroyed in charity shop fire

THE manager of a charity shop has been left devastated after it lost most of its stock in a fire.

Police were called to reports of a fire at the Scope charity shop on Albany Road, Cardiff, at around 3.30am yesterday.

The incident closed the road until 7.30am. The shop lost most of its donations in the incident and will be closed for the foreseeable future but the charity has confirmed it will reopen, although no date has been set.

Although no one was injured and the police are not treating the fire as suspicious, the staff and volunteers are now dealing with the loss of stock from the incident.

Shop manager Catherine Gibbous got the news at 7am that there had been a fire at the shop she has worked at for more than a decade.

She said: “The devastation of it all was going through my head at the time, and I was worried about the volunteers because it’s their social circle as well. They enjoy coming here as well as volunteering, so they’re going to be a bit lost.

“And our customers, some of those we have to really thank them for their support and donations in the past and we want to let them know that we will be back. It’s social for them as well because some of them just enjoy coming in for a chat, and we will miss it just as much.

“We had so much stock that people had donated and so much money for the charity that we would be making, so the charity is losing out. All that hard work we’ve put in prepping and ready to get that money in the till and it’s all just gone up in smoke.”

Considering what the shop means to those who work there, Ms Gibbous added: “It’s our second home and we are here more than we should be, we come in more than we should be and we support each other. And the community – the Roath, Cathays and Penylan community – have supported us so much over the years.”

Alison Aston, South West Area manager at disability charity Scope, added: “We have spoken to the fire brigade this morning and they have confirmed that the investigation is ongoing.

“We will not be able to give further details until this is completed. The team at Scope charity shop in Albany Road would like to thank their volunteers and customers for all their incredible support over the years.

“They look forward to serving their wonderful community when they are able to reopen. If you’d like to support Scope whilst the shop is closed, you can visit our eBay site where you can find fantastic quality bargains. Or you can visit our nearest shop in the Kingsway Centre, Newport.”