St John’s Hospice operates shops in Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal and Garstang. Our shops help raise vital income for the charity but also raise awareness of the Hospice in the local community. Our shops include furniture shops, charity shops selling clothing, accessories, books, bric-a-brac and much more and pound shops selling a great selection of bargains. We also have a warehouse where donations are sorted and then distributed to all our shops.
To make this operation work, St John’s Hospice relies on the generosity, hard work and commitment of an amazing team of volunteers from across the community.
We need shops volunteers now more than ever. The impact of the coronavirus continues to be felt at St John’s Hospice. Our shops provide vital income to ensure our work can continue. Volunteers in our shops help make this happen as we reopen our shops after lock-down.
Some of our shops are now open at the weekends, and we especially need volunteers for our shops in Morecambe at the weekends, although all volunteers are welcome!
See Sue McGraw, CEO of St John’s Hospice spend a day volunteering in our Arndale £1 Shop in September 2021
We need volunteers in all areas of our shops team. In our shops you can help to help sort, display and ticket stock, process Gift Aid, operate the tills (18+) and provide great customer service. In our warehouse we need team members to help sorting donations, recycling or even helping on one of our vans delivering and collecting furniture.
In return, you can improve your CV, make friends, help build your community and get a great sense of achievement knowing every minute you volunteer is helping us to be there for patients who really need us.
Till assistant
Role includes:
Making customers feel welcome
Serving customers on the till
Handling cash and card payments
Ensuring items are processed accurately through the till, including Gift Aid
Customer service – shop floor
Role includes:
Making customers feel welcome
Helping customers with queries on the shop floor
Helping to keep the shop floor area tidy and stocked
Customer service – donations
Role includes:
Making customers feel welcome
Receiving donations from customers
Promoting Gift Aid
Sorting stock into the correct pens in the sorting area
Stockroom assistant
Role includes:
Sorting saleable stock and recycling
Preparing stock for sale by hanging, sizing and labelling items
Pricing garments at their full value so as to maximise income
Sourcing items that could sell for a higher value somewhere else, e.g. online/auction
Regularly rotating stock to maximise sales
Merchandising
Role includes:
Using creativity to support the shop team with keeping window and shop displays relevant and interesting to engage customers and promote sales and Hospice events
Helping ensure standards in the shop remain high
Book specialist
Role includes:
Keeping books fully stocked with a variety for all customers
Sorting donated books
Scanning books that cannot be sold
Identifying rare and collectable books
Electrical specialist
Role includes:
Keeping the electrical area well stocked by replenishing items and creating displays
Ensuring items are presented well e.g. clean and clearly priced
Identifying unusual items for sale online
Fashion accessories specialist
Role includes:
Creating well stocked and attractive displays
Sorting donated items
Identifying higher value items for sale online
Includes bags, shoes, belts and jewellery
Homewares specialist
Role includes:
Keeping homeware fully stocked and displaying item attractively
Sorting and cleaning donated homeware
Identifying unusual items for sale online
Music and entertainment specialist
Role includes:
Keeping music and entertainment fully stocked and well organised
Sorting donated items
Identifying unusual or collectable items for sale online, or pricing for sale in the shops
Housekeeping
Role includes:
Helping to keep our shop floor and back of house areas at a high standard
Tasks may include: vacuuming, dusting and window cleaning (internal)
Steaming
Role includes:
Steaming clothes to ensure items looks their best before sale
Furniture assembly
Role includes:
Assembling and disassembling furniture items for display and delivery to customers
Carrying out minor repairs (if comfortable)
Furniture handling
Role includes:
Supporting the preparation of furniture for delivery
Arranging donated items on the shop floor
Driver
Role includes:
Moving stock around our network of shops
Full UK driving license required. Manual handling and driver awareness training required (will be provided)
Must complete 6 months as a driver’s buddy before becoming a driving volunteer
Driver’s buddy
Role includes:
Supporting our drivers moving stock around our network of shops
Manual handling training required (will be provided)
Maintenance
Role includes:
Supporting minor maintenance within the shops
Manual handling and diver awareness training required (will be provided)
Upcycling
Role includes:
Using your creative skills to give donated items a second life
Online lister – eBay
Role includes:
Researching items values
Listing goods for sale on eBay
Writing detailed and informative descriptions of items including condition
Helping to upload photos
Online lister – Depop
Role includes:
Researching items values
Listing goods for sale on Depop
Writing detailed and informative descriptions of items including condition
Helping to upload photos
Online sales champion
Role includes:
Identifying items that would appeal to an online buyer
Looking out for unusual or quirky items that may sell well online
Searching online to find the current market value of items so we can get the best price
Online researcher
Role includes:
Searching online to find the current market value of items so we can get the best price
Identifying if items are worth selling online
Photographer
Role includes:
Taking photographs of items including clothing, homewares, collectables and many more
Posting and packing assistant
Role includes:
Helping to package items sold online
Ensuring the correct address information is attached
Limiting the risk of damage where possible
Social media assistant
Role includes:
Visiting our network of shops to take photos and gather content that can be used on our social media platforms
