Oxfam opens its first charity superstore

Oxfam opens its first ever superstore on 7 September, in Oxford. The charity, which was founded in the city, has transformed a 14,500 square foot unit on the Oxford Business Park North in Cowley into a ‘destination shopping experience’, which will double as a community space and include an on-site café, housed in an Oxfam water tank. The superstore will offer both donated items and those from the ‘Sourced By Oxfam’ range of new ethically sourced gifts and homewares. Community groups and social enterprises will be able to use the dedicated meeting spaces, while the charity plans to hold regular in-store interactive workshops, activities and talks. The store will also offer free parking as well as a drive through donation point will make it as quick and easy for people to drop off their pre-loved items. The superstore will be open for trading four days a week but will be accepting donations seven days a week. According to Oxfam, it will create 11 new jobs and numerous volunteering opportunities, and will also support the charity's Future Skills project, a volunteering, training and mentoring project for women in the UK facing barriers to building a better life. With over 600 shops across the country, this will be its first superstore. Oxfam’s Trading Director, Andrew Horton, said: “We’re so excited about opening our first ever superstore in Oxford – where the charity began over 75 years ago and where the first Oxfam shop opened its doors in 1948. The superstore will be more than a shop – it will be a place for the community to get together, a café, as well as offering a huge choice of bargains and one-of-a-kind finds in a fantastic family friendly environment.”

from UK Fundraising https://ift.tt/2LgPvHp