City College Plymouth Opens St Luke’s Retail Outlet

City College Plymouth, in partnership with St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth has recently opened a new retail outlet in the main reception area at the College’s Kings Road site.

The shop is open to the public and is selling a range of clothes and accessories in order to raise funds for the local charity. All the profits from the shops go directly to the Hospice and is open Monday to Wednesday 9.30am to 3.00pm and Thursday 9.30am to 12.00noon.

St Luke’s Hospice charity shops provide a vital source of income to support the free care given by the charity.

Director of Income Generation and Communications at St Luke’s, Robert Parsons, said: “St Luke’s is always looking at ways of developing our charity shops. We were one of the first charity shops in the UK to offer a £1 charity shop on the high street and believe our presence at City College leads the way for charity shops to join forces with other educational establishments up and down the country.

“We are very grateful for the continued support from the staff and students at City College and hope they will find our stock of good quality, low price products on their doorstep an attractive addition to the College. We now have a total of 36 charity shops, ranging from £1 shops to shabby chic and furniture, to a retro and vintage shop which is also very popular with local students. Our charity shops contribute over £800,000 to patient care and from our retail distribution warehouse in Plympton we process and supply over 500 tonnes of donated goods to our charity shops across Devon and Cornwall.”

The shop will be staffed by Skills Development students, which will provide them with hands-on experience of working in the retail sector.

Mike Jones, Employability and Enterprise Manager at the College said: ”The shop is a huge asset to the College. As a member of the Gazelle Colleges Group we are committed to giving our students the chance to develop the skills and characteristics that employers are asking for. The shop provides our students with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in a retail setting, whilst also supporting a fantastic local charity.”

Although the shop has opened, there will be an official launch taking place at the College on Monday 17 November, as part of Global Entrepreneurship week which runs from Monday 17 to Friday 23 November.

The shop also benefits from ‘student takeovers’, in which College students from different curriculum areas are able to promote and sell their own products and services. Aimed at encouraging student enterprise, the space offers students the opportunity to market and sell their products and services through a real retail unit and in starting their own businesses.