Chichester homeless charity expands shop in city centre

Chichester homeless charity Stonepillow has announced the expansion of its Restore shop in Terminus Road.

With the cost-of-living crisis hitting hard, Stonepillow’s Restore is responding to consumer demand with the acquisition of new premises in Terminus Road. This bigger and better retail space will be fantastic news for customers focusing on buying used and preloved goods rather than new.

Having celebrated its ten year anniversary in 2021, Restore’s Terminus Road site has become the victim of its own success; now bursting at the seams with donations and with sales exceeding £500,000, all profits from which support Stonepillow and their work with the homeless community of Chichester and Bognor Regis.

The new bigger retail unit on Terminus Road, at the site of the old Feather and Black store, will open in the New Year and will offer a much improved shopfront whilst the old unit is kept as a donations hub – improving Stonepillow’s response to the community’s generosity by accepting donations six days a week.

In a statement a spokesperson for Stonepillow said: “We are incredibly proud of Restore which having been seed funded by the Big Lottery has become a hugely successful social enterprise and generator of income for Stonepillow and its services to the local homeless community.

“Based in Chichester with a retail outlet in Bognor Regis, Restore receives donations of furniture and white goods which are restored, recycled and sold onto those in need of cheap furniture in the community; or reused to furnish our clients’ supported accommodation. More than this, since April alone Restore has fulfilled 101 crisis furniture grants on behalf of local councils; providing essential furnishings for the most in need in our community; and has supported 12 unemployed volunteers with the skills they need to move on into new jobs and become independent."

Restore’s current shop on Terminus Road will close its doors to shoppers at 1pm on Christmas Eve and reopen in a new shop on Monday, January, 9 2023 at 10am, with the High Sheriff James Whitmore in attendance and to a fanfare of customers, donors and supporters.

The current shop/warehouse will then be known as the Donations Hub, and will be open to accept donations whilst the new shop gets ready to open.