Telford Red Cross shop celebrates 150 years
A British Red Cross shop in Telford has marked its 150-year anniversary.
Though the store in Oakengates had to celebrate in a smaller fashion due to the Covid-19 restrictions, staff at the shop were keen to mark the anniversary.
Jayne Edwards, manager at the shop, said: “We had massive celebrations planned, with cake and we would have had things going on outside with entertainers and singers.
“Red Cross as an organisation had a lot planned as well. They are a worldwide organisation – the Red Cross has stores in 191 countries with 17 million volunteers.
“So the celebrations would have been really big all over the world.
“We have kept the celebrations low key this year with specific £1.50 sales to commemorate 150 years, that sort of thing.
“We can’t really do anything else, we can’t even give out cake. But we had great feedback on the day from visitors. The mayor came down and he is really supportive of Oakengates and of people shopping locally.”
The charity shop in Oakengates supports the work the British Red Cross do in the UK and overseas. Since 1870 the charity has supported those in crisis all over the world. It is a predominantly volunteer-led charity that relies on the help of its charity shops and fundraisers to help build up its support.
Jayne added: “Even though we couldn’t celebrate it the way we originally planned, it was nice to be able to mark the day anyway.”
“We can only have four people in the shop at one time, so we made sure we were socially distanced and safe.”
Meanwhile, The Queen led the Royal family in paying tribute to the British Red Cross yesterday on its 150th anniversary, describing the charity’s work as “valued and greatly appreciated”. Since 1870, the organisation has shown “just how powerful kindness can be” said the Prince of Wales, who added its efforts were “essential”.
