Delight to finally open again

THE team at the Blue Cross charity shop at Market Place in Wokingham is delighted to have now reopened since lockdown and we look forward to welcoming back our loyal customers. For those who have items they wish to donate we ask they follow our simple checklist and do not leave bags on our doorsteps or be offended if we cannot take in pre-loved items that day.

Please try and only donate items that are resellable. If you can clean items before donating it would be super – although we are also quarantining each item for 72 hours before being offered for sale. Contact the shop before bringing your items to us and if you have a large donation please bring it to us bit by bit as storage is limited. Please remember to Gift Aid your donation if eligible as it really helps boost our income which means we can help more pets in need. Finally, don’t forget to wear a face covering when coming into the shop.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Jaye Cook

Shop Manager

Blue Cross, 17 Market Place, Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1AL

Second Berkshire charity shop back

SINCE the Government announced that non-essential shops could reopen, Sue Ryder has been planning for a phased return of its charity shops across the UK.

We have been impacted heavily by the Coronavirus outbreak over the last four months as not only have our shops been closed but our fundraising events have also been cancelled.

Therefore we are very happy to announce that the Sue Ryder shop in Slough on Farnham Road is now open for business Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 10am – 4pm.

We are restricting the number of people in the shop at any one time and installing floor markings to support social distancing. We have also put in place enhanced shop cleaning, which is why we have reduced opening hours.

We have installed acrylic screens at our tills and hand gel stations at the entrance of each shop for customers to use. We have put in place strict procedures for sorting and selling donated stock and have also made the decision to close our changing rooms.

We are now able to take donations and whilst we need your donated goods – the increased safety measures we have put in place means that they will need to be kept in a holding area for 48 hours before being sorted and put on the shop floor. This means that there may be times when the holding area is full and we are unable to accept stock.

We are incredibly grateful for the support and generosity of the local community in Slough. The success of our shops is paramount to Sue Ryder’s aim, which is to provide compassionate and expert palliative, bereavement and neurological support.

We look forward to welcoming back our customers and donors, old and new and we would like to thank our supporters in advance for their patience and understanding as we try our best to navigate the new environment that we find ourselves operating within.

Heidi Travis, Chief Executive at Sue Ryder

Vets: No pet should suffer

AT PDSA, the UK’s leading vet charity, we provide life-saving care to pets in need and believe no pet should suffer due to financial hardship. But the coronavirus pandemic has left us facing a national crisis. With the country plunged into financial uncertainly, and more than a million extra Universal Credit claims, we expect the number of pets needing our help to increase by around 50,000. So support from local animal lovers is needed now more than ever.

We’re urging dog owners and their four-legged friends to put their best paw forward and support our vital service by signing up to the World Big Dog Walk Challenge.

Joining celebrities and animal lovers across the UK, all you need to do is choose a suitable distance for you and your dog to complete during September. This could be your regular ‘walkies’ route around your local park or why not stretch yourself and take on a more challenging distance? Whatever the distance, every small step will make a big different to the lives of poorly pets in desperate need of life-saving treatment.

Our veterinary service has been a lifeline to so many pets and their owners across the UK during the crisis so by choosing to support PDSA through this fun virtual event, we can continue our vital work saving sick and injured pets in need.

Visit www.pdsa.org.uk/worldbigdogwalk for more information and to sign up.

Lynne James

PDSA Vet