Life charity shop celebrates first birthday (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Life charity shop celebrates first birthday

7:00am Thursday 13th December 2012 in Local By Adam Richards

A CHARITY shop in Basingstoke town centre has celebrated its first birthday.

The LIFE shop at the bottom of Wote Street is one of 10 shops that support national charity LIFE, which offers support to young homeless single mothers and counsels against abortion.

It provides emergency accommodation for women in crisis, as well as “natural fertility” advice, baby care support, and education. The Wote Street shop was set up by Chantal Brown, from Kempshott, Basingstoke, chairman of the Basingstoke and North East Hampshire LIFE Group.

A group of 18 volunteers works at the charity shop, led by manager Jenny Filkins, from Rooksdown, Basingstoke.

Chantal said: “We wanted to do more than just fundraising for fundraising’s sake. It is important to have a shop in the area. “It has definitely been worth all the effort and a lot of people appreciate what we and LIFE are doing.”

In Hampshire, the charity has homes in Farnborough and Fleet that provide shelter to young mothers. The Basingstoke shop and one in Weymouth are the only LIFE shops in the south east.

Jenny Filkins said: “It has been a success in our first year. We hope to be celebrating many more years of success.”