St Luke’s Hospice needs hands up

Empty hangers fill the rails in the storeroom of St Lukes Hospice.

St Luke’s Hospice West Coast needs donations to continue its charity work.

The Table View and Milnerton branches are both running low on donations.

May Weathers, a volunteer at the Milnerton branch, said donations had started drying up a few months ago.

The shop might be filled with rows of clothes, books, bric-a-brac and more, but behind the scenes, sparse collections were hardly enough to fill the storerooms, she said.

Ms Weathers said the rooms at the back of the shop were usually so full it was difficult to walk in but now they were almost empty.

Against one wall is a rack lined with hangers. She said that was a good indication that they were low on stock.

“You can tell by the hangers what the situation is like. On a good day, there’s no hangers available because they’re all being used.”

She said there was a growing trend of exchanging things on social media but she urged people to remember the hospice shops were for a good cause.

“It is the patients who suffer if when we don’t make money,” she said.

Kay Bailey, chairwoman of St Luke’s Hospice, added that they also needed volunteers.

“We are appealing to anyone who has time on their hands to come and join our ‘happy team’ of volunteers. If you are interested, please call our office at 021 557 8925 Mondays to Fridays between 8.30am and 3pm,” said Ms Bailey.

Visit www.hospicewestcoast for more information on St Luke’s Hospice West Coast or how to become a volunteer.

The Table View shop is at 248 Blaauwberg Road (call 021 557 8054) and the Milnerton shop is at 4B Ascot Place, Yarrow Road (call 021 551 0956).