A charity shop in March has issued an urgent call for extra volunteers to step forward.

East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) opened its new retail hub at Meadowlands on August 1.

It stocks items like clothes, books, bric-a-brac and furniture, but one challenge has been a lack of volunteers.

“We’d love to hear from anyone keen to join our small but friendly team and urgently need more support,” said Jeni Baines, EACH’s shop and cluster manager for the North West.

“We’re thrilled with our beautiful new shop but haven’t been able to recruit as many volunteers as we hoped for, or as many as we need.

“At the moment, we only have half a dozen loyal and brilliant volunteers, who regularly go above and beyond.

“However, we could do with quadrupling that tally, and, in an ideal world, need seven or eight people for every morning and afternoon shift.

“The numbers are put into sharp focus when you consider we have around 30 down the road at our much smaller Whittlesey shop.

“The biggest problem is at weekends, when we don’t have any cover.

“It means we don’t have any extra help for things like sorting and pricing donations, and it’s definitely something we need to rectify.”

Volunteers can help in different ways, including serving customers, dressing windows and steaming clothes.

Other roles include being a driver’s mate, heading out to distribute goods, including collecting and dropping off furniture.

“The numbers are slowly going up, and we’re keen to get as many people on board as possible,” added Jeni.

“I think it’s a word of mouth thing, as much as anything. Often people come in and say ‘I didn’t know you were here’.

“Then when they’ve had a look around they say such positive things and give the most wonderful feedback.

“Hopefully more and more people will find us and be tempted to join the team, because volunteers play such a crucial, fundamental role.

“It’s a golden opportunity to be part of something new and exciting, and there’s such a diverse range of things people can get involved with.

“Just pop in, come and see us and take a look around.

“We receive around 350 bags of donations every week. The sooner we get them out on display, the more money we can make for the children and families receiving care and support from EACH.”

The March shop, which is open seven days a week, is also a distribution centre for EACH’s stores in Whittlesey, St Ives, Huntingdon, Ely, Soham and Downham Market.

To find out more about volunteering in March, pop in for a chat, email Jeni via Jeni.Baines@each.org.uk or call 01354 700397.