Closure of Dereham Charity Shop

Age UK Norfolk will be permanently closing the doors of its Dereham Charity shop on 29^th February 2024. The Dereham Furniture and More store on Yaxham Road was launched with the aim of offering a variety of pre-loved items at affordable prices to in turn generate income to support the organisation’s charitable services.

Many retail outlets struggled to recover from the impact that COVID-19 had on the retail industry, and research from the Centre for Retail says that 50 shops closed for good every day during 2022 – a total of 17,145 – up almost 50% on 2021, during the pandemic.

On-going inflation has continued to impact the retail sector, following on from the difficult period of COVID-19 store closures. Consumers are also being more mindful of managing their spending, the effects of which is felt most severely for non-essential retail.

Ann Donkin, CEO of Age UK Norfolk, said, “We are immensely proud of our retail team who have worked incredibly hard to maintain our retail presence in Norfolk, providing support to the local community in a friendly and pleasant store environment and we are hugely grateful to our customers over the years who have supported not just our store but our vision to ensure older people live well in Norfolk.

As a charity, our mission is to support older people in Norfolk to enjoy the opportunities and meet the challenges of later life and our focus must remain on providing our vital services which enable us to do this; we remain committed in our aim to make Norfolk a great place to grow older.”