Hannah, 35, has been working at ellenor for 16 years. After starting out as a Sales Assistant at Special Treats – a small charity shop ellenor maintains in Dartford’s Darent Valley Hospital – Hannah soon progressed to the role of Furniture Coordinator. Now, based at ellenor’s shop in Dartford’s The Priory Centre, Hannah’s role as Furniture Distribution Manager means she has an integral part to play in maximising the income of ellenor’s charity shops – which all goes to funding the hospice charity’s care.
For Hannah, working for ellenor is all the more meaningful because, as a child, she was one of those loved ones. When Hannah’s granddad was diagnosed with aggressive bowel cancer, ellenor not only cared for him for the last three months of his life, but provided counselling for the bereaved Cooper family as they grieved his loss.
Even before then, Hannah’s connection to ellenor ran deep. As a young girl, she remembers hearing stories from her gran - who was a nurse at ellenor - about life at the hospice. Now, as an adult, Hannah’s role may be different from her gran’s, but it’s no less impactful. Day to day, Hannah is responsible for running ellenor’s furniture line, coordinating deliveries and collections from local homes, organizing shop-to-shop transfers, and managing the hospice’s drivers and vans
As for the furniture – anything from sandalwood suites and teak side tables to fridges, freezers, and televisions – ellenor’s stock mainly comes as donations from local homes. Sometimes, Hannah explains, these arrive as individual items dropped off in-store; other times, devoted patrons bequeath whole homes (and even entire estates) to ellenor. Whatever way these items arrive, one thing never changes – in an ellenor shop, there’s never a shortage of unique gems to be unearthed.
Also key to Hannah’s role – and crucial for ensuring ellenor is able to maximise the income on the items it sells to fund its care for life-limited patients – is what she refers to as ‘giving’: the process of supplying certain low-stocked shops with donated items from other ellenor shops. Hannah also coordinates what she calls ‘feeding’: that is, topping up ellenor’s four furniture shops (Dartford Priory, Crayford, Bexley, and Blackfen) with donated furniture, clothing, and bric-a-brac from its warehouse.
Along with Special Treats and the four furniture shops above, ellenor has another five charity shops – based in Dartford High Street, Gravesend King Street, Northfleet, Swanscombe, and Welling – as well as three more on the way. The first of those, in Swanley, is coming soon: so watch this space!