Scope expands retail chain in West Byfleet and Ross-On-Wye

In the next few months, Scope is set to open another six to eight shops in thriving market towns across the nation, including the recently opened stores in West Byfleet and Ross-On-Wye.

Retail expansion

The charity’s retail expansion is in stark contrast to recent troubles for well-known high-street brands and comes in light of the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) announcement that more than one in ten of the nation’s shops are now empty.

All of Scope’s new shops will be funded by an innovative scheme that allows charitable donations to go further by giving people the chance to invest in these new stores.

Instead of directly donating to Scope’s work on the ground with disabled people and their families, generous donors can loan or donate £50,000 to open a new shop.

Each shop then generates as much as £30,000 a year, which Scope can use as a source of on-going funding for its work. That also means within two years a loan can be paid back.

New charity shop

Jan Hassan is interim Manager of the new Scope shop in West Byfleet, which opened on 7 December.

With over six years’ experience working as manager of the Scope shop in Weybridge, Jan formerly worked for high-street giant New Look in Walton-on-Thames and studied at the London College of Fashion. 

Mother of two Jan said: "The charity sector is doing so well at the moment with sales rising last year due to an increasing number of people venturing into charity shops as it is becoming more fashionable to do so.

"It’s fantastic that Scope is expanding when so many large retailers are competing with each other. People are looking for a bargain more than ever because purse strings are so tight."

Scope recently announced former River Island chief executive Richard Bradbury as a patron. The charity hopes his expertise will add to the success of the scheme. Scope has been trialling the innovative fundraising scheme over the last 12 months with West Byfleet being one of the latest new shops to open.

Wanted: shop volunteers

Both the West Byfleet shop and the Ross-On-Wye shop are also appealing for volunteers who can spare anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days a week. Volunteers at Scope shops gain valuable social skills, as well as the chance to gain an NVQ in Retail. For more information contact the shops or email Kelly Butler at kelly.butler@scope.org.uk