RSPCA staff in Altham have launched an urgent appeal after their stock reached ‘dangerously low’ levels.
The shop on Broadway in Accrington is calling on animal lovers to donate their unwanted items to help raise funds for the animal shelter in Altham – particularly ladieswear.
Steve Suttie, RSPCA Lancashire East branch administrator, said each year the shop generates around 50 per cent of the running costs to the Altham centre and is a ‘very popular charity shop’.
He said: “In recent months, donations of stock have dropped quite significantly, and the management are asking all local animal lovers to please help if they can.
“Donations are unpredictable around this time. A lot of parents will have cleared out old toys and things to make room and we have some amazing stuff like that.
“However the kind of things that really sell well is ladieswear and we are really short of that.
“For some reason at this time of year that tends to stop coming in as much.
“The message is simple – please don’t go down to the tip with your unwanted clothes, shoes, books, ornaments, kitchen utensils, CDs, DVDs, pictures, frames, toys, bedding, accessories, bric-a-brac, small electrical items or kids stuff.
“Please help the animals at Altham animal centre by donating your unwanted goods.”
Steve said the shop recently celebrated its one year anniversary and makes a ‘huge contrib-ution’ to the running of the Altham centre.
He said: “It is amazingly successful and we waited a long time to find the right place for the shop in Accrington.
“In the past we used to get by with just donations. However the generation of people passing away and leaving lots of
money to charity is less and less.
“There are also so many other charities now that people are also giving money to than there were in the past.
“If you can’t drop the items off yourself, please just give the shop a call and they will be happy to come and collect from you.”
To book a collection, call the RSPCA shop in Accrington on 01254 372027.
