Charity shop in village near Lancaster builds on Ukraine fundraising success to support local causes

Originally a pop-up shop to raise funds for Ukraine, The Bentham Hub officially opened in June and is now a permanent feature in Main Street, High Bentham.

Within eight weeks, the pop-up shop had raised more than £7,500 for Ukraine and since then, the hub has made thousands of pounds which it has distributed to local charities including St John’s Hospice, North West Air Ambulance, High Bentham children’s playing field, Longstaff and Collingwood (a children’s charity), the Dementia Group and the British Legion.

The Hub is run by shop owner Liz Brown, Sharon Haslam who worked for Barnardos, and Lesley Barker, who used to work in banking.

Volunteers themselves, they are also supported by a team of 27 people who give up their spare time to help.

“It’s magical,” said Sharon. “It’s not just a shop, there’s a well-being element to it as well. We have customers coming in who say they’ve not been out for ages because of Covid and love looking round the shop and having a chat.“The timing of this shop has made it a success. People are worried to death about their heating bills and the current economic climate.”

The Bentham Hub sells men’s, children’s and women’s clothes, including full wedding outfits, furniture, books, electrical items and ornaments, and is open Monday-Saturday, 9.30am-4pm.

The hub has also formed a link with a community navigator who can help customers who require more support than the shop can provide.

More volunteers are also needed and anyone interested can just pop into the shop for details.