Daisy’s for East Lancashire Hospice opens its doors for business

What better way to embrace National Pride Month than with a fashion show of glammed up charity shop purchases modelled by Drag Queens, Kobrah and Anaconda!

The new opening of charity chic boutique, Daisy’s for East Lancashire Hospice, was the perfect occasion to show just how glam is glam, with outfits selected from our Darwen Shop, prior to the opening that included an Elsa style long flowing dress, silver sparkly all in one jumpsuit, a very chic flowery dress suitable for a summer wedding, christening or garden party and of course a Daisy’s fashion show wouldn’t be complete with an outfit featuring Daisy Dukes shorts.

The new concept shop located at 781 Whalley New Road, Wilpshire, Blackburn has a vast selection of pre-loved clothes, new prom or bridesmaid dresses that were kindly donated by Amelia’s in Clitheroe, shoes, handbags and boho style jewellery, bags, pashminas and a carefully selected number of Father’s Day Gifts, including shave kits, men’s bracelets and bow ties, cufflinks and pocket squares from the Belfast Bow Company, as well as a great selection of cards.

East Lancashire Hospice Income Generation Lead Sharon Crymble said, “We all know the high street is changing and we wanted to give people visiting our store a great customer experience as well as a wide range of clothes, shoes, bags and accessories.  We worked with a local company Blue Insignia for the shop fitting, and we are blown away with the results.  We chose the name Daisy’s as it is the flower that is in the hospice logo and we have been absolutely over the moon by the response, both for the shop itself and for the items that are stocked.

It really has been a real community effort with support from shop landlord Adrian and Lisa Swindlehurst who were the postmasters of the shop previously. Adrian officially opened the shop in a ribbon cutting ceremony in memory of his mum who used the hospice services. Volunteer David Bell has given a great deal of his time to support with utilities and basically however and whenever we needed him.  Eastham’s Flower Shop, Wilpshire, loaned us the flowers in our window display and we have also received beautiful flowers, chocolates and the well wishes of businesses round about including a gorgeous flower display from Flower Shack by Sarah.

Of course I must also say a huge thank you to our volunteers who are giving their time to support the shop each of whom will be sporting the new style Daisy’s Apron, which is available to purchase in store.

The fashion show really was the jewel in the crown, and everyone was really impressed by the outfits on display.

The next step will be to introduce an online shop for Daisy’s as our job is to raise funds to make sure we can continue to care for the patients of East Lancashire Hospice, so we need to meet and exceed people’s expectations to do this and give them a choice of where and how they want to purchase, whether that is online, in Daisy’s or in one of the East Lancashire Hospice Charity Shops.

There is still a place for traditional charity shops and we still have a great deal to offer in our Darwen, Great Harwood and our Clitheroe shop, and also our Furniture Warehouse on Brunswick Street Blackburn.