## _**ANNUAL REPORT**_ ## _**2022**_ **Parks Volunteer Resource and** March 2022 **Retail Outlet** _Thank you for your continuous support_ _It has been wonderful to see customers feel that this is a safe_ _environment to come in for a chat and to buy things that they need. Thank you for your continuous support._ _2020 to 2021 has been a challenging year for everyone! The Shop had to close in line with Government Covid rules, but has_ **– Donations** ~~_managed to reopen s_~~ **Thank you** _lowly and safely with many of our original volunteers coming back._ During the pandemic, The Shop adopted a process to _The Shop continues to provide a wide variety of items and keep the local community informed of activities around the square_ keep everyone safe and _and in the Parks and Walcot areas as well._ well. All donations had to be booked and these were then quarantined for up to 72 hours. The Shop would like to thank you for supporting this initiative and helping to keep everyone safe. **Opening hours Monday 9am-3pm Tuesday 9am-3pm Wednesday 9am-1pm Thursday 9am-3pm Friday 9am-3pm Saturday closed * (The Shop hosts the councillors’ and Police drop in surgery, but the retail side remains closed at this time)** ## October—December 2020 During this time The Shop had to open and close in line with Covid restrictions. After the November lock down, The Shop reopened in December with limited hours up to Christmas, just in time for people to buy Christmas trees and decorations. A Christmas Raffle was held with 20 prizes to be won. £70 was raised from the Raffle towards the up keep of The Shop. ## **Volunteering and acts of kindness** **While The Shop was closed, people were doing other voluntary jobs and acts of kindness where they could. These included; helping at Steam with the vaccination program, delivering shopping and medical needs to vulnerable people, helping prepare allotments, Community litter picks, displaying paintings done by the local children and providing bright flowers while people queued for the shops.** ## **— January April 12th 2021** The Shop was closed during this time to the general public. Therefore, this was a good opportunity to do some maintenance work including, replacing the boilers, draining the radiators, electrical check, lights replaced, buying PPE equipment and reorganising The Shop while putting protective Covid measures in place ready for the reopening. ## **Woodland Activity Sessions** At the end of August, we were able to resume the popular Woodland sessions with 2 well attended all day sessions in Chiseldon. The youngsters enjoyed the fresh air and made dens, camp fires and crafts, while socializing and getting to know all about nature. The sessions were so popular, that we were able to hold some tea time sessions in September for the first time. ‘It was awesome!’ ‘When can we go again?’ ‘He loved it!’ ‘They went to bed quite early when they got in.’ ‘Thank you.’ These were some of the regular messages we received from the children and their parents. ## **Fun for all the community** **In August we held a Festive Friday Fun day for the community. This included Tombolas, raffle, giant games and refreshments of Pizza, chocolate and soft drink. The activity was well** **attended and it was great to see the general public enjoying themselves. This day was also followed by the Tombola on the Cavendish Square Community Day , where money was raised for the Mind charity. In September , sales for the day raised £255 for Race for Life as a thank you to our outgoing Treasurer.** ## **Contact Us** ## **Other achievements** **The Shop is more than a Charity Shop. During this challenging year, The Shop has offered support by promoting the Covid Bus, the council’s initiative of ’Pop up chat sessions on Cavi Green and a local hub to distributed free Covid tests to local less mobile people. As a place to learn new skills, a couple of our volunteers now have paid jobs and moved on. We wish them all the best for the future. We have also offered students doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards opportunities to volunteer, which they completed. Well done to Darcy and Sophie! Although Covid has affected sales, it has also given us an opportunity to sell items on line. Well done to Maria for organizing this and giving up time to see the sales through. We have had to reduce the choice of furniture that we take in as we have not been able to offer our collection and delivery service like before. However, we are happy to offer phone numbers of other charities or organizations that might be able to help. We continue to support :-Local schools, Alternative Angels, Donkey Sanctuary. Salvation Army, CALM, Woodland Club, Threshold Housing, Night Shelter, Mind, Food Collective, The GAP, children in Cameroon and The Scouts. We work in partnership with the other outlets and agencies in the square, including Nationwide, Danny’s, Haircare, the library, Banardos and the Coop, so that the community can have a wider choice of activities and Cavendish Square can continue to be the hub of the community. The Future** **We are continually working towards maintaining established relationships and developing new ones as the needs and demands of life and the community change. We hope to hold more courses ranging from confidence courses to craft courses, more drop–ins that will offer advice and support to the local community. We are also working with the Youth team to see what we can offer local teenagers in this area.** ## **Thank you** Thank you to the Coop, Tescos and Nationwide for their donations towards Volunteers’ refreshments and Wiltshire Community Foundation who gave us an extension to fulfil our grant obligations. **Thank you to Pat who did a number of deep cleans during the lock down and continues to regularly clean The Shop, making it smell lovely and welcoming. Thank you to all our dedicated and valued volunteers who generously give up their time and energy to make The Shop a welcoming place and open until 3pm most days. Therefore, offering a wide variety of affordable goods. The Shop would not be able to survive without our Other achievements volunteers or you the generous local public.** Give us a call or pop in for more information about our services and activities . **The Shop Unit C & D, George Hall Court, Cavendish Square, Swindon, SN3 2LZ** **01793 529938** theshop1@btconnect.com *Visit us on the web at www.theshopparks.co.uk www.facebook.com/ The shop in cavendish square. ***At present , we are continually updating our website and Facebook page to share with you all that we are doing and what is happening in The Shop.** **The Shop is more than a Charity Shop. During this challenging year, The Shop has offered support by promoting the Covid Bus, the council’s** **initiative of ’Pop up chat sessions on Cavi Green and a local hub to distributed free Covid tests to local less mobile people.** **As a place to learn new skills, a couple of our volunteers now have paid jobs and moved on. We wish them all the best for the future. We have also offered students doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards opportunities to volunteer, which they completed. Well done to Darcy and Sophie!** **Although Covid has affected sales, it has also given us an opportunity to sell items on line. Well done to Maria for organizing this and giving up time to see the sales through. We have had to reduce the choice of furniture that we take in as we have not been able to offer our collection and delivery** **service like before. However, we are happy to offer phone numbers of other charities or organizations that might be able to help. We continue to support :-Local schools, Alternative Angels, Donkey Sanctuary. Salvation Army, CALM, Woodland Club, Threshold Housing, Night Shelter, Mind, Food** **Collective, The GAP, children in Cameroon and The Scouts. We work in partnership with the other outlets and agencies in the square, including** **Nationwide, Danny’s, Haircare, the library, Banardos and the Coop, so that the community can have a wider choice of activities and Cavendish Square can continue to be the hub of the community. The Future** **We are continually working towards maintaining established relationships and developing new ones as the needs and**