Charity shop to close after 23 years and raising more than £1.5m

The store, which has been on Portadown’s Market Street for decades will not be reopening following Lockdown, says Cancer Research UK.

They thanked the shoppers and volunteers at the Portadown shop for raising helping to raise £1,576,783 since it opened in 1997.

As shops across the UK began re-opening following lockdown, Cancer Research UK confirmed that as the lease has expired, its Market Street store will remain closed.

Area trading manager Kathryn Gallagher issued a heartfelt thanks to all the staff and volunteers who have kept the shop going for more than 30 years.

“We’ve had some of the most amazing staff and volunteers in the Portadown shop and they have done a fantastic job over the years,” she said. “I want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of them.

“Now, more than ever, we need to raise as much money as possible to fund life-saving research and that means investing our resources in a way that maximises profit, awareness and supporter engagement. With this in mind, I sincerely hope our customers will continue to support the charity and visit our other shops in the wider area.”

The closure coincides with the launch of an urgent new TV appeal to help get Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work back on track. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, the charity currently funds around 50 per cent of all cancer research in the UK.

However, as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, it expects to see its fundraising income decline by up to 25 per cent in the next financial year – putting this life-saving research at risk.

Cancer Research UK spent more than £2m last year in NI on some of the UK’s scientific and clinical research.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you