What a joy for This is Haslemere to meet with Bridget Davies who has been the manager at Cancer Research UK’s charity shop in Haslemere for the past five years. For those who’ve never been to this shop, it is a double-fronted shop based on Petworth Road. Bridget is pictured outside.

When we mentioned to friends that we were meeting with Bridget, the one thing they all consistently mentioned was how incredibly hard she works. Indeed, she began the conversation saying that she starts in the shop at 6 o’clock in the morning. As it is her policy not to turn donations away, and she is very lucky that Haslemere is a such a generous community, the shop can get overloaded and really full. The only way she can keep up with the stock flow is to do these early mornings. With real gratitude, Bridget explained that the Haslemere branch receives between 300 to 400 bags of donations a week, amongst them some very lovely items.

For Bridget, It’s Personal

There are heartfelt and personal reasons Bridget to be involved with Cancer Research UK. Three of her four grandparents as well her youngest cousin, Sally, died of cancer. Sally was 40 and she had three small children. Every day in the shop, customers share their own stories of family/friends either dealing with cancer or dying from this disease.

As well as this, Bridget has just always loved charity shops. She has seen an evolution in how they are perceived. She recalled that, as a child, there’d be the real stigma of buying from a charity shop and you’d always look over your shoulder to be sure your friends would not see you going in. Nowadays, it’s cool to buy from charity shops. It’s win-win-win - 1) cost effective, 2) environmentally friendly and 3) charitable. So, to run a charity shop that supports cancer research funding, there’s a real drive and determination to maximise the funds she and her team can raise.

The personal stories and these triple wins all combine to motivate and drive Bridget to raise as much money as she can to support the research into this terrible disease.

The Haslemere Cancer Research UK Team 

In Haslemere, there are four paid staff – a manager, an assistant manager, a Saturday cover and a Sunday cover. In addition, sixteen volunteers help out regularly giving their time over varied hours in the shop. There are currently three Duke of Edinburgh volunteers and other youngsters on this scheme (age 16 and over) are welcome to apply for volunteering experience in the shop. Her volunteers range in age from 16 to 83 years old. Volunteers do stints on the till, sort the donations, price them, tag items for Gift Aid, steam clothes, tidy the shop, rotate the stock on the shelves/rails, and dress the window displays. At the heart of this team is a strong customer service ethos. Bridget was so happy to share that a Mystery Shopper from Head Office recently gave the Haslemere shop a 100% score. 

Bridget and her team are all fundraisers and they all believe they must try to get the best price for people’s donations. This is a team that is very passionate about their cause. In Bridget’s words, “It’s a lovely team and my aim is to keep it lovely. Honestly, we're so pleased and proud to be able to represent our wonderful shop."

The Challenge and Cost of Managing Waste

As we have mentioned, the downside to a high volume of donations is that some are not saleable, for example, colouring books that have been coloured in, sticker books with stickers everywhere, broken children’s toys, damaged electrical items, mildewed books. It’s Bridget’s biggest frustration because the shop has to pay for its commercial waste bins by weight. Her second biggest frustration is that they cannot accept any electrical items, and yet, 20 to 30 come through the shop on a weekly basis. If they put electrical items in their waste bins as retailers, they can be fined £2,000. So that's another headache for Bridget and is a challenge that CRUK is trying to address regionally.

This Haslemere branch does well and meets its fundraising targets. It’s Bridget philosophy of not turning away donations that contributes to her revenue goals. She has turned donations away probably three times in five years (bike helmets, child car seats and unusable rusty barbecue kit).

Some Memorable Fundraising Sales From Your Donations

The Haslemere shop sold a set of 11 plates recently at auction, and they went for over £800. Car toys that would not have been picked up on the shop shelves also got a good price at auction. One very slinky and glamorous designer dress fetched £1,800 at a London fashion house. Bridget and her team always try to find the best sales routes. Ultimately, it’s all about maximising their fundraising efforts to fund cancer research.

Volunteering With Bridget

The Haslemere shop is always looking for volunteers. Whether you could give an hour or more each week, Bridget would love to hear from you. There is always a requirement to help in the shop. If dealing with customers seems daunting, there's always back-office work that needs a constant focus. Contact the shop here.

About Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK was formed more than 20 years ago, in 2002. However, their history goes back much further, to 1902, with the founding of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Thanks to their supporters, their pioneering work into how to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer has benefitted millions of lives over the past 120 years. Find out more about how their research has already made a difference to patients and what they are funding right now via their website.

For every £1 donated to Cancer Research UK, over 80p is spent on beating cancer. The remainder is used for fundraising to support future work, which includes essential running costs.