Dedicated Pendleside Hospice shop volunteers are also some of the best customers in line for a designer bargain

When Margaret offered her services to work as a volunteer at a Pendleside shop in 2003 i was to help her cope with the passing of her husband Alan.

And almost 20 years later Margaret is still turning out one day a week to help serve, mark up goods and arrange displays in the Nelson shop in Scotland Road.

Margaret, who worked as a home help for 30 years, decided to be a volunteer to help her ‘get out and meet people.’ She said: “I am a people person and needed to do something where I could meet and chat to folk and decided to work as a volunteer at the Brierfield shop where I worked for 18 years

until it closed last year. I now work in the Nelson shop every Tuesday morning.

“It helped me deal with the grief of Alan passing away. He was only 64 so it was a big shoc when he died of a heart attack.”

One of her volunteer colleagues in Nelson is former sewing machinist Sheila Hirst who, along with Margaret, believes the Rewear Revolution, launched to encourage people to shop at their local hospice shop, is a great idea because of the ‘fabulous ‘ garments that are always on sale.

And Sheila (67) should know because she has worked on many famous designer brands including most recently Stella McCartney and Noel Gallagher fashion ranges. Sheila was employed for many years at Grenfell in Burnley and the then Nelson-based clothing manufacturers Mackintosh.

Sheila, whose mother received care from Pendleside’s Hospice At Home team, said: “We have a Rewear Revolution display in the window and there are some lovely items on show.

“We have lots of famous designer makes and some of the clothes still have their original price tags on them and have never been worn before.”

Margaret, who has a son, two grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, is grateful for the bereavement counselling she received at Pendleside following the deaths of her brother and mother who died within eight weeks of each other.

She said: “Pendleside has been very good to me. And when, as part of the bereavement group, we went out for a meal there were four people there who had gone to the same school as me so we had a lot to talk about!”

Both Margaret and Sheila not only work at the shop but are some of the best customer. Margaret bought a pair of Paver shoes for £6 only last week and Sheila not only shops at the Nelson store but often travels on to Colne to see what is on offer there.

Lisa Clarke, Pendleside’s volunteer co-ordinator, said: “Margaret and Sheila are two of our team of volunteers who we need to keep our nine shops open six days a week across Burnley and Pendle.

“We are always in need of more volunteers and would love to hear from anyone who can offer at least a morning or an afternoon a week in one of our shops.

“Anyone interested should go into one of our shops and speak to the shop coordinator who will explain what the job entails and provide them with an application form.”