Our 2024 winners, Hospice of St Francis, won this award for their shops’ community relationships – whether this was through participation of a local literary festival, running workshops to upskill local people on lampshade making, painting or upholstery or through the installation of their Dementia café and accessible toilet. They offer a warm, welcoming, safe and inclusive shopping experience accessible to all. They run a programme of inclusive, free events and activities in their shops including:
Children’s story time
Craft classes
Chess club
Author book signings
Diversity book club
Poetry club
Using the CRA’s SROI toolkit they calculated their SROI was £13.34 vs a sector average of £7.35.
“We were so proud to win the first Social Value Award at conference last year. Community engagement sits at the very heart of all we do; from volunteering, sustainability, events and supporting our local communities to having warm welcoming safe spaces and an affordable offer accessible to all. The value of these social ‘touch points’ cannot be underestimated; it engenders a sense of joint purpose and community ownership and builds loyalty and drives performance too.”
Sarah Coles, Director of Sustainable Trading, Hospice of St Francis
Don’t forget to submit your nominations for the 2025 Charity Retail Awards.
