South Bucks Hospice branch opens in Chalfont St Peter

The South Bucks Hospice branch in Chalfont St Peter unveiled itself to the public on Friday, February 9, two weeks after its ‘soft’ opening.

However, heavy rain hit the village some 24 hours before the shop’s launch.

A South Bucks Hospice branch opened in Chalfont St Peter on February 9 (Image: NQ)

This led to maintenance work being carried out, causing the main car park in front of the shop to be closed off to the public.

Additionally, the main road linking drivers along the High Street was also cordoned off so that the heavy water could be removed.

Manager Angie Aldis told the Free Press: “It’s been very quiet.

“It was a little bit of a washout but the people who needed to be here were here.

The shop was 'quiet' on its opening day due to heavy floods and road closures (Image: NQ)

“The road leading into the High Street being closed has impacted us because the car park is shut, the flooding…people just don’t want to come this way.

“We’ve had a few this morning [February 9] but it has been very, very quiet.

“There’s not a lot we can do about the weather.”

The main car park was closed, leading to a lack of customers (Image: NQ)

Despite the underwhelming start of the day, some customers did visit the vicinity in the afternoon, with many eyeing up the numerous donations that had been given in.

A fresh sign has also been erected, which Angie hopes can attract new customers.

She also praised the hard work of the maintenance workers, who were seen flushing high levels of water away from the area.

The road leading into the High Street was closed (Image: NQ)

She continued: “The guys outside have been at it for weeks, but they’ve been brilliant trying to pump all the water out in the last few days pumping as much water out as possible.

“On the shop, the sign is up and that’s been a huge help and we’ve also got a new till that’s also been very helpful.”

She also has thanked those who have come in to make purchases or to leave donations.

She concluded: “Please, please, please come over and have a look.

There were high levels of water in Chalfont St Peter (Image: NQ)

“This is a lovely new shop, bring your donations in and spread the word.

“We’re not funded so all the money comes straight from the shops.

“Every little helps.

The road closures led to a lack of people attending the shop on the opening day (Image: NQ)

“It’s so important to donate to charity shops.

“Youngsters especially, we’re getting more youngsters coming in these days when at one time, you’d hardly see young people come into charity shops.

“But it’s all about recycling and reusing.

“It’s a lot better than just throwing it out for landfill.”

The shop is based along St Peter’s Court in the village.