Aylesbury charity store reopens one month after car crashed through shopfront

A charity shop in Aylesbury has reopened just five weeks after its front window was shattered by a car.

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity has reopened its furniture store on Broadfields in Aylesbury.

On Saturday (25 March), residents could access the store again for the first, such was the demand, the shop celebrated its busiest ever day.

A driver accidentally reversed into the front of the showroom causing the door, window and surrounding brickwork to crumble on Sunday 19 February.

No one was injured the incident and the charity praised the quick response of emergency service staff who made the area safe.

A queue of customers lined up for the hotly anticipated reopening.

Lily Caswell, head of retail said: “We were absolutely delighted to open our (temporary) door again on Saturday to welcome in our customers after being closed for nearly five weeks. The Showroom is so vital to the income raised by Retail to fund hospice care for local people, so we are grateful to be back open and so busy – thank you to everybody who came along to the opening.

“The showroom was super busy all day – in fact, it was the busiest day on record for a Florence shop! We sold a huge amount of furniture over the weekend, so if people have furniture to donate, we’d love them to get in touch via our website.”

Once again, the showroom is open seven days a week and 100% of the profits go directly to the hospice charity.

The furniture store is the biggest retail venue owned by the well-known not-for-profit organisation.

Staff members were concerned about potential losses from the closure, considering spring is often the busiest time of year for business at the large store.

Supporters of the charity were asked to be patient and wait for the reopening of the site, rather than bringing their furniture to other smaller Florence Nightingale Hospice shops.

There are 12 stores run by the end-of-life support charity throughout Buckinghamshire. The group is also known for running fundraising projects across the county throughout the year.