Demelza shop in Gillingham appeals for help after fire destroys stock
by Nicola Jordan
A charity shop manager has issued
an urgent appeal after 14 bags of stock were destroyed in a
blaze.
Holly White (pictured right), who
runs the Demelza branch in Gillingham High Street, is pleading for
donations before supplies run out.
Holly had just taken a big
delivery, which she was storing in a shed behind the shop.
It is believed the fire last
Wednesday night may have been started by a squatter who had been
sheltering from the cold in the outhouse.
Holly, 23, who has run the business
since it opened more than a year ago, said: “We had been relying on
that stock to get us through the next two weeks, but now it has all
gone up in flames.
“Luckily the shop was not affected,
although we can still smell the smoke. Revenue from the shops is
massively important to the hospice.
“It’s not until you go there and
see the work that goes on there that you realise that every penny
helps.”
Holly is asking for people to have
a clear-out as soon as possible so she can replenish her
shelves.
She said: “We are after anything we
can get our hands on, but we are particularly short of women’s
tops.”
Donations of clothes, books, DVDs,
small items of furniture and bric-a-brac will all be gratefully
accepted.
There is also a gift aid scheme
which can boost the charity’s coffers even more.
Police are investigating the cause
of the fire, which broke out at about 8pm.
15/01/13
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