A FIRST national gift card made exclusively for charity shops is being rolled out in town.

The Charity Shop Gift Card has been developed by Charity Retail Association and is now being sold and accepted in St Rocco’s Hospice’s 10 shops across Warrington which provide vital funding to support the free care it provides to people with life-limiting and terminal illnesses.

Warrington is the first place to use the gift cards to distribute funds from its local support scheme.

That then helps individuals and families who do not have alternative means of paying for what they need in a disaster or emergency or to enable independent living in the community.

The gift cards will also be supporting the environment by being recyclable and compostable.

Eric Russell, head of income generation at St Rocco’s Hospice, said: “We’re really excited to be involved in the charity gift card and the prospect of working with our local council to offer the gift card as a way of providing essential items to the residents of Warrington. We can only see the scheme growing as people realise the benefits of buying second-hand."

How the gift card looks

How the gift card looks

Cllr Tony Higgins, Warrington Borough Council cabinet member for leisure and community, said: “This charity gift card is another excellent way to support a local charity that gives so much to the community, as well as providing a more sustainable choice of gift card. We’ve very excited about the partnership with St Rocco’s and the Charity Retail Association and, depending on the success of the scheme, we hope we can expand the offer in future to include more local charitable organisations.”

Lee Fellows, co-founder of The Charity Shop Gift Card, said: “Sustainability is a major driver of our scheme with the need for urgent action to control climate change at the top of the global agenda.

“The gift card market is huge and growing, and central to our aim is to help charities like St Rocco’s to tap into that so they can continue the contribution that they are already making to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. In Warrington, we’re taking it a step further by partnering with Warrington Borough Council with the aim of widening the impact of our gift card for good.”

The gift cards can be bought at St Rocco’s Hospice shops, at supermarkets and other major retailers from this month, and as e-vouchers from www.thecharityshopgiftcard.co.uk.