Issue 21
The Shop
Yes!! Readers of the Caswell Chat, all of a sudden; as if by magic; we have a shop!! At the moment small and dainty, but as soon as we can expand the little business, we can run an even better service.
The shop is run by RobC (UFG) with the help of patients MellyS, TerryC and AndyH.
The shop opens a t 11.00 to 12.30 pm on a Tuesday and 1.30pm to 3 pm on a Friday and is held in the UFG office..
Initially, we did not have the total amount of funding needed to run the shop and so RobC took some of the money from each shopping session to buy products going out twice or three times per week. This has used up his own time, and he is also been assisted by his wife, Bernie. This has been unacceptable, but RobC is too kind to acknowledge this!
We decided that we would start by buying items that led to healthy eating. This meant that we do not sell the usual chocolate bars (e.g. Mars) but XX bars. Every thing is sold at cost price and is very cheap. We managed to get Pot Noodles cheaply and these have sold very well – so much so that they have replaced some of the "take aways" that happen on the wards.
We now sell flavoured water bottles and fruit drinks but not Coke or Fanta etc.
We also sell Christmas cards as well as birthday and greeting cards that have been made by Lis, a patient in the Clinic.
Items that go down well are toiletries for both men and women with designer labels such as Addidas. Linx, XXXX.
Further money has now been allocated for clothes and shopping is done at "The Pines" for designer clothes that are being sold cheaply – mainly for patients who have not got community leaves.
Suffice to say that the shop is going very well and is an asset to the Clinic with both patients and staff coming to purchase items; this is especially so for patients who do not have community leave.
If you have not been to the shop then please feel free to come and have a browse around.