THE manager of a Carlisle charity shop has reflected on a ‘phenomenal’ year as it celebrates its first anniversary.
Restore currently operates four shops, three in Carlisle in Petteril Bank, Morton, and Harraby as well as a warehouse and furniture shop on Shaddongate and a store in Penrith on Brewery Lane.
Restore is also on the verge of opening a new location on Castle Street.
As a charity shop, Restore in Morton and across the region is reliant on donations from locals and sells on these donated goods to raise money which is reinvested in the community.
(Image: Supplied) Melanie Clark is the manager of the Restore sop in Morton which celebrated its first anniversary on Friday, January 17, and expressed her delight after a ‘phenomenal’ year.
She said: “The shop used to be called the Op Shop but closed last year and it had a huge revamp and became Restore Morton.
“It is doing absolutely amazing, it is the most amazing year I have had and I absolutely love this job.
“I feel part of a community even though I don’t live here and we get such a lot of support from our customers and the shop is doing better than anyone ever imagined it would do and that is also down to our amazing team of volunteers.
“We have flown past all of our targets and it is just phenomenal.”
Alongside its mission to invest in the local community and recycle unwanted goods, Restore also runs a number of other events and initiatives such as Restore on the Roads which takes the benefits of the charity to rural communities near Penrith.
(Image: Supplied) Melanie was also on hand to discuss these events as well as what is on the horizon for the local charity.
She said: “We have community spaces and they can be used for lots of different things.
“At our shop in Morton people come in for tea and coffee and some company and in Penrith they do arts classes and after-hours things that are overseen by the chaplain who do an awful lot.
“Starting on Monday [January 20] which are starting ‘Come and Build’ which is going to be Monday and Thursday thing from three o’clock and we have got loads of lego for the kids.”