Rowcroft Hospice charity shops prioritise staff and customer safety to enable safe and successful re-opening.
Rowcroft Hospice supports adults living with life-limiting illnesses in South Devon. We are a charity and rely heavily on funding, the majority of which comes from fundraising and income generated from our charity shops. There are 13 Rowcroft shops - two of which have in-house cafés, a distribution centre and a mobile café, all of which are staffed by management teams and a large number of passionate volunteers.
As has been the case for almost every business in Torbay, we have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 and the multiple closures of non-essential retail from March 2020 into 2021.
Once re-opening dates were announced by government, our chain of charity shops had to navigate and manage staffing, stock donations, shop layouts, PPE and generally ensuring all 13 premises, the mobile café and their distribution centre were able to reopen in a COVID-19 safe way. In addition to these practical challenges, we had to consider the additional safety of their volunteers, some of whom were in the higher risk categories or considered clinically vulnerable.
However, our retail team worked hard to adapt to overcome these challenges. Shaunagh Hart, operations manager and our retail management team, worked collaboratively using key data and guidance from the government website and advice from the Charity Retail Association to compose a thorough and compliant re-opening strategy.
Prior to re-opening, we carried out COVID-19 risk assessments on all premises and put together a thorough and comprehensive re-opening safely pack for all store managers to use within their stores. The pack included guidance on cleaning regimes, how to use PPE effectively and COVID-19 checklists.
All donations of stock have been managed by quarantining and rotating all donated items, as well as carrying out enhanced cleaning processes. Once it was possible to reinstate home furniture collections, a robust screening procedure was implemented to ensure staff and donors were not put at risk.
Additionally, we put in place practical safety measures required to keep customers safe:
As well as undertaking COVID-19 risk assessments for each premises, all individual staff members and volunteers have been risk assessed based on individual needs. Since re-opening in April, staff and volunteers have been able to access lateral flow test kits and have been given refreshed health and safety training.
“Our shops were met with a series of challenges in the face of COVID-19. However, by interpreting government guidance thoroughly and taking the time to understand them and what they mean for our shops, we have been able to re-open safely and successfully. We have constantly considered staff and customer safety in all of our new procedures and are pleased to say we are confident in welcoming customers back.”
We work with government, TDA and local businesses like Rowcroft Hospice shops, to ensure that grants, loans and other support available are accessed quickly and effectively to help businesses operating in Torbay.
The procedures brought about by COVID-19 have enabled some longer-term positive changes. In addition to streamlining processes and generally working ‘smarter’, the pandemic accelerated the shops embracing technological advancements, including video conferencing software to facilitate safe meetings. Video calls also enabled staff and volunteers to remain in contact safely, mitigating against potential holistic issues such as wellbeing or loneliness.
Although our retail team are looking forward to the re-opening roadmap progressing, and re-opening the premises with cafés in May, each shop will continue to enforce procedures which promote the health and safety of customers and staff.
“We want to reassure customers that we will continue to prioritise your safety in store. We realise that although re-opening is positive, some people may find the easing of restrictions daunting or overwhelming. We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as you are ready to visit us again.”