A BASINGSTOKE hospice raised more than £20,000 in three months from a pop-up charity shop in Festival Place.

St Michael’s Hospice had a pop-up shop in the shopping centre during October, November and December.

It raised more than £20,000 by selling new and pre-loved items to shoppers.

The temporary shop was opened as part of the hospice’s charity partnership with Festival Place.

St Michaels’ Hospice was given the opportunity to use one of the shopping centre’s units to open the store, selling clothing, household items, books, toys and Christmas goodies.

READ MORE: Ted Baker opening in empty unit in Festival Place

The hospice’s head of retail Ann Schuster said: "Thank you to local residents for shopping with us at the pop-up, £20,000 will make a huge difference to our patients and their families. We’re incredibly thankful to Festival Place for this fantastic opportunity which helped us attract even more shoppers to our stores.

“We have 11 stores across Basingstoke and North Hampshire, so I encourage shoppers to continue to support us by popping in and finding some pre-loved treasures."

Festival Place director Neil Churchill said: "Our vital local hospice has been our charity of the year for the last five years, and we were delighted to host this new pop-up shop.

"We know how much our customers love the hospice's annual Christmas Happy Wrappy service here at Festival Place, so it was great to see them also supporting this brilliant venture – £20,000 is a fantastic sum to raise."

Happy Wrappy was set up in Festival Place to help residents with their festive wrapping.

Staff and volunteers from the hospice wrapped lots of presents throughout December, raising a further £1,090.

The hospice gives free compassionate care to people with life-limiting illnesses across Basingstoke and North Hampshire. With rising cost of living, energy and food prices, it’s now costing on average £1,500 more a day to run the hospice’s services.

To donate to the charity, visit stmichaelshospice.org.uk.