Everybody knows everybody. Charity shop manager Suzi nurtures a great community spirit

Suzi

Our Bromborough Allport Road charity shop is always lively.

From the time the bolt is drawn back at 9am and the roller shutters are locked at 4.30pm the shop is a busy hub of shoppers, stock donors, volunteers and, the busiest of all, shop manager, Suzi.

All of Suzi’s thirty-three volunteers, many of whom have been with her since the shop opened on March 9^th, 2022, are in awe of her tremendous energy. In fact, so is everyone else who meets and greets her.

One volunteer told us,

“Suzi is incredible. She’s always on the go. Some days I think there’s more than one of her.

One minute helping to sort stock, another organising pricing, hanging clothes, sorting displays, sometimes behind the till, directing and supporting us and always welcoming customers with a smile.

She’s also got a great understanding and talks passionately of why we’re doing it all. To raise funds for the hospice where, through visiting friends down the years, she’s had her own personal experiences.

It really inspires us volunteers to do our very best too.”

The feeling is mutual, Suzi says,

“It would be a million times harder to provide the customer service and to keep replenishing the stock without my small army of friendly, experienced and capable people.

They’re all from the local community and they’re all FOR their local community.

Simply brilliant.”

Suzi in hospice gardens

Suzi was born in Cyprus where her dad, an army officer, was stationed at the time. The military life took her and her family all over the world as a young person, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, Africa, New Zealand.

Even at a young age, Suzi’s leadership qualities were shining through. It’s no surprise to learn that she became head girl at her Anglesey boarding school, Le Bon Sauveur, where she made a best friend for life, a French lady, Béatrice, whom she’s visited in France many times.

Her love of work, business and busyness, is totally natural.

Starting off working on the market stalls her family had all over North Wales, Cheshire and Merseyside Suzi then ran her own pubs and coffee shops for many years.

She once appeared on popular teatime ITV show Britain’s Best Dish preparing one of her own café’s sweet desserts.

In her home life Suzi has five daughters, Kama, Nathalie, Krystal, Charmaine and Francesca, who all work in the NHS or other caring professions. She was one of four sisters and that hard working female gene has carried through the generations.

Sadly, her first husband, Dave, father to the first four girls, died. However, second husband Kenny, has been a loving support to Suzi in the years since and is also a volunteer alongside her, fetching, carrying, fixing and attending to all kinds of jobs in our Bromborough charity shop.

Suzi was bitten by the charity shop bug when she joined Hospice of The Good Shepherd in Chester to manage some of their shops and she was there for two and half years until she was recruited by Roy Castle Lung Cancer charity. She was brought into a role to get their new shops up and running and then move onto the next one. Eventually she settled into a full-time role managing their Heswall shop.

On 1^st November Suzi will have been with us for five years in total, having initially joining Wirral Hospice shops as a part-time area relief manager.

Suzi with vols for Christmas in July

Her employment coincided with the final few months of preparations for the opening of our new Bromborough, Allport Road, shop. Suzi was delighted, from March 2022, to be installed in the full-time role of managing the shop and she’s never looked back.

“We’re in a wonderful place and the community has really supported us since day one.

We like things to be a little quirky so don’t be surprised if you see the volunteers in dress-up or wearing some of the items on sale, including hats and accessories.

We all love Christmas time obviously but one of our favourite theme weeks is ‘Christmas in July’, a tradition I picked up from Australia. They have their mid-winter celebrations in July, because it’s the closest they get to a Christmassy feel.

It’s always a lot of fun with the staff getting into the spirit with Christmas jumpers, antlers and elf hats. We sell off any surplus Christmas stock and also give an early chance for people to pick a celebration dress or shoes to put away.”

Suzi ready for abseil

As if running the shop is not enough of a massive contribution to the hospice, Suzi decided she was also going to abseil off the main stand of Anfield recently to raise some more funds. Wow!

Here she is pictured in her abseiling gear…

So, if you’re in Bromborough Allport Road soon and there’s life and laughter pouring out from one of the shops on the row you can be sure it’s our charity shop, where Suzi will be leading her merry band of volunteers in support of our Wirral community.

Thank You, Suzi. You’re definitely a special, ‘one-off’.

If you would like to visit one of our eleven charity shops around Wirral to pick up a bargain or to donate your pre-loved items to one of our our charity shops, please find all the information, including for the pick up of larger furniture at www.wirralhospice.org/charityshops