The North East’s very first Cancer Research UK superstore in Sunderland is celebrating its first birthday in a unique way.
The Sunderland Superstore, at Pallion Retail Park, is the biggest shop Cancer Research UK has in the North East, and the very first for the charity in the city.
It opened its doors to the public on 13 September 2018. As it approaches its first birthday, it will now be offering a range of quality furniture to the public with free collection for those who want to donate items of furniture.
Store Manager, Helen Turner-Walker explained: “We wanted to celebrate our birthday in a unique way and decided that a good way to do that was offer our customers even more.
“Our superstore is going from strength to strength and the offer of quality furniture will be the icing on the cake. We’ll be offering free pick up of the furniture that people would like to donate.
“Since opening we’ve had over 44,000 customers through the door and processed over 23,400 bags of donated goods. It’s a perfect time for us to extend what we have on offer and we’re really looking forward to offering a range of quality furniture, along with good quality ladies and menswear, handbags, shoes and homeware.”
All profits raised in the superstore goes towards funding Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work to help more men, women and children survive the disease.
Every week, around 300 people are diagnosed with cancer in the North East*. Support from the region, whether it’s shopping, donating or volunteering will assist Cancer Research UK’s ground-breaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Since its opening, the Sunderland Superstore has enjoyed its success thanks to the help of its volunteers who provide 100 hours of support each week.
Helen added: “Our volunteers are an amazing bunch of people. We couldn’t do what we do without them. They’re very committed and a great help.
“In fact, we’re looking for more volunteers to join our team. There’s lots of roles to choose from providing the opportunity to gain valuable retail experience. Our volunteers say they develop more confidence and interpersonal skills, they gain valuable work experience and make friends too.”
The shop team needs 250 hours of volunteered time each week from the local community, to raise money for live saving research. Anyone interested in volunteering can call in at the superstore or fill in an application form online. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/apply-for-volunteering
The Cancer Research UK superstores are four times bigger than the high street shops and each item in the Sunderland superstore costs £3 or less, excluding golden ticket items. These items tend to be brand new goods. It’s expected that bedroom furniture will start from £30, tables and chairs from £50 and sofas costing from £75. Customers can pay for delivery to their home.
The Sunderland superstore, at Pallion Retail Park has a huge selection of clothing, accessories, books, DVDs and CDs, homewares and small electricals all under one roof. There’s also free parking and great access, with the opening of the Northern Spire bridge last year.
As part of Cancer Research UK’s plan to meet customer demand for more accessible stores, along with easy access and plenty of free parking, the Sunderland Superstore became the charity’s 17th superstore in the UK.
The Sunderland Superstore is open from 9.30am until 6.30pm Monday to Friday, 9am until 6pm Saturday and 10am until 4pm Sunday.