Handmade jewellery made by the enterprising team at a charity shop in Lancaster has proved to be a best seller with students.
Being in a university city, Scope charity shop, Lancaster has lot of student customers and volunteers and they have been integral to the new range of jewellery being hand made by the team, headed by Shop Manager, Alison Goodman and Assistant Shop Manager, Charlotte Mercer.
Both have years of experience making jewellery, Alison did it mainly for a hobby and Charlotte was a professional jewellery maker. Alison had a huge amount of surplus jewellery at home that she wanted to put to good use.
Earlier this autumn, Alison was thinking about how her shop on Cheapside can raise even more funds for Scope and as students come in every day and know Alison and her team well, she asked them what they’d like to see and buy.
The result is a fun range of fun earrings and necklaces, available between £3-£3.50, that quickly became the shop’s best sellers.
Alison Goodman, Shop Manager, Scope charity shop, Lancaster, said: “I had so much surplus jewellery parts left over from when I used to make it for a hobby. I needed some space back but wanted to make sure that I put that it all to good use.
“The shop is in a university city and we absolutely love having their students as customers and volunteers. They’re so fantastic, enthusiastic and want to support a good cause.
‘’In turn, our shop helps them to have a more sustainable lifestyle whilst picking up some stunning bargains we offer. We’re always chatting with them so earlier this autumn, I mentioned my surplus and asked what they’d like us to stock.
“The unanimous answer was fun, funky and affordable jewellery.’’
Together with assistant manager, Charlotte, who also has years of experience making jewellery, the collection of earrings and necklaces was created, which are priced between £3 and £3.50.
“As soon as we put them out in the shop, they started to fly out,’’ Alison added.
‘’We couldn’t believe it and we were absolutely over the moon. Word of mouth quickly got around and the demand has continued to grow.
‘’We were selling around 50 to 60 earrings each week and were finding it challenging to keep up, but we soon got over that hurdle as our fantastic volunteers who give us much needed help to make the jewellery.
“Today, this range is our best selling in the shop, This goes to show that talking to your customers really does pay off. With their fantastic insight and feedback, we’ve been able to create a winning range that’s fun, very affordable, raising funds for our charity and, they make great stocking fillers.
‘’One student comes in twice a week to top her collection and the feedback from all our customers has been incredible.’’
Every penny raised from these jewellery ranges goes directly to Scope to ensure the charity can continue to support disabled people and their families through support services, like their free Helpline.
The average call to this service costs £13, so every time that amount is raised, a disabled person is able get a call with the charity’s experts where the get advice, guidance and emotional support.
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