Visit our shops

The Hospice currently has eleven shops throughout East Suffolk and a distribution centre in Ipswich which rely on the donations of goods to keep them stocked.

Donated goods can be taken directly to the distribution centre or the Hospice may be able to collect from your own home.

The funds raised through the charity shops enable St Elizabeth Hospice to continue to make a real difference to the lives of our patients and their families, friends and carers.

Our charity shops rely on the loyalty and dedication of local volunteers. Volunteers provide general assistance in the shop and carry out duties such as sorting, pricing, displaying and selling mainly donated goods.

Great reasons to shop with us

• We are members of the Association of Charity Shops and conform to the Code of Charity Retailing, so you can shop with confidence.
• The funds raised through our shops is spent locally to help our patients and their families, friends and carers.
• There are bargains galore to be found in our shops, from designer labels to rare books, you never know what you might find whilst browsing.
• You may pick up a unique items of clothing that are not to be found in High Street shops.
• Our shops are great for the environment as they allow goods to be reused and recycled. A second life is given to a range of items which would otherwise end up in a landfill site at a great cost to local authorities and the planet. Buying reusable goods also reduces your carbon footprint by cutting down the use of packaging, transportation and raw materials.

We accept clothing, shoes, small electrical goods, handbags, accessories (scarves, belts, ties etc), linen, soft furnishings, china, glass, kitchen equipment, pictures, mirrors, books, toys, DVDs, videos, CDs, cassettes, vinyl, small digital TVs and furniture.

The Hospice has a van and furniture team in place ready to pick up donations from the comfort of your own home to be sold in our shops in Stowmarket and Meredith Road in Ipswich. We will collect furniture donations for free six days a week. If you have any furniture that you would like to donate, please contact 01473 744080 Monday Saturday 9.00am-4.30pm to discuss collection.

We do not accept or sell, unsold car boot stock or jumble, prams, pushchairs, nursery furniture (cots, highchairs etc), car seats or car safety equipment, crash helmets, cycle helmets, riding hats, large electrical items, white goods and TVs that are not digital.

Gift aid donations to our shops

The Government operates a scheme called Gift Aid that allows charities to claim the basic rate tax on every pound donated. We can now claim Gift Aid on the items you donate to our shops which increases their value by a further 28%.

It's really easy and simple
1. When you visit one of our shops and donate items, ask a member of the team for details about Gift Aid
2. They will take your contact details and give you your own Gift Aid donor card with a unique donor number
3. Please remember to bring your card with you every time you donate items

A sticker with your unique donor number will be attached to the items you donate and once they have been sold, we will let you know how much money you have helped us to raise. For example a book sold for £1 will raise an additional 28p and a sofa sold for £100 will raise a further extra £28 at no extra cost to you or the customer.

To qualify for gift aid, you must be a UK tax payer and pay an amount of income and/ or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the tax that we reclaim on your donations.

Latest retail news

We are holding a three-month long wedding wear amnesty where people are asked to donate the wedding clothes they no longer need. Not just wedding dresses can be donated, how about last year's hat, shoes or handbag, the groom's suit or even the bridesmaid's dress. From June to end of August all 11 Hospice shops will be taking donations. The collection is now being sold in special wedding departments at Dog's Head Street, Ipswich and High Street, Saxmundham. Click here to read more



Followers of retro and vintage fashion will be in for a treat when a special Hospice shop opens in Halesworth.
Donations of vintage and retro items only will be stocked at the I-Chameleon premises in the Thoroughfare.
It will be open for seven days only from 22nd July to 29th July, 10am to 4pm (except Thursdays when it is half day closing).
St Elizabeth Hospice retail sales manager Jason Rudderham said: "We know there is a huge market for vintage and retro clothes and items so we have hand-picked the best from our donated stock to sell in Halesworth. Our volunteers have already held vintage stalls in Woodbridge and on Ipswich Waterfront and they were very popular."



If you have questions about donating goods please contact your nearest shop or email enquiries@stelizabethhospice.org.uk