Charlie Bear charity shop banks thousands in just two months

Oct 2 2009 by Helen Rae, The Journal

A CANCER charity shop has banked £4,000 since it opened just two months ago.

The Charlie Bear for Cancer Care shop, which is based in the Northern Centre for Cancer Care (NCCC) at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, sells a wide range of merchandise, including the famous Charlie Bear, as well as various gift items such as scarves, hats, gloves, jewellery and candles.

The shop used to be positioned at Newcastle’s General Hospital, where it would make a maximum of £100 a week – now it generates five times that amount.

Shop manager, Michelle Charlton, said: “Raising that kind of money in such a short space of time is wonderful and backs up the positive feedback we’ve had from hospital staff, visitors and patients when they’ve visited us.

“Everyone who comes in is wanting to make their own contribution to what is being generated by Charlie Bear.”

The Charlie Bear appeal, which is backed by The Journal, was launched 30 years ago when Morpeth housewife Daisy Clark pledged to raise £1m to buy the region’s first whole body scanner.

The charity has gone from strength to strength, continuing to raise vital funds to help support patients with the potentially-fatal illness.

It was adopted by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 1993 and aims to provide comfort and care for patients receiving treatment for all forms of cancer.