Bolton Hospice set up vintage pop up shop to raise funds

The Furniture Plus shop sells a range of quality pre-loved furniture, electricals, nursery, mobility, and fitness equipment and much more.

The funds raised from Furniture Plus help provide a sustainable source of income for Bolton Hospice, which needs to raise over £4 million every single year to continue to provide their free specialist care and support.

Items on sale at the pop-up (Image: NQ)

Siobhann Mates, online sales manager, said: “It’s been absolutely amazing, the interest on social media has been brilliant.

“We had a lady who travelled all the way down from Yorkshire, she had seen it on the Facebook page, travelled here, just to buy an outfit for the Coronation that was in the window.

“We smashed it on Saturday, we made over £1,000, so it’s doing really well.

“It means such a lot, we have got such a lot to raise each year, over £4 million so creating new ideas, getting more people to know where we are, more money in the till.

• Also read: Bolton Hospice call for more volunteers

“Those 16 beds need paying for so therefore there are new ideas from us all the time.

“Someone said it is like a little antique stall and there is nothing like this in Bolton, so it was just so nice to develop but we couldn’t have done it without the volunteers.

“It started off as an idea on a piece of paper and then it just flowed from there.”

Dave Bowyer and Siobhann Mates (Image: NQ)

Dave Bowyer, a volunteer who works two days a week for the hospice, said: “I retired a couple of years ago and I think everyone has a connection with the hospice.

“I had a cousin who ended up in the hospice, end of life, and I think that resonates with a lot of people.

“You can speak to most volunteers here, they have that connection, a close relative or a friend and its about putting something back really.

“It’s a real pleasure working here and it’s a happy place to work as well.

• Also read: Brothers to take on 50-mile trek for Bolton Hospice

“You feel you are contributing by doing something, just in a small way to help raise money for the cause.

“We have been hammering it on social media, well Siobhann has, trying to spread that word and I wasn’t here on Saturday, but Siobhann was, and she said people were coming from far and near to grab the bargains.

“There is something for everyone.”

The Furniture Plus is based at Morston Point, Manchester Road, BL2 1HA, between 10am and 4pm 7 days a week to see what vintage treasures you can find.

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno.