A BARNSLEY Hospice shop has gone from strength to strength having marked its tenth anniversary!
The hospice's Mapplewell shop has grown from having just two volunteers to a small army of 17.
The recruitment of more volunteers was just one of the achievements celebrated when the Fountain Parade shop marked its tenth anniversary on November 21.
The celebrations come a year before Barnsley Hospice marks 20 years of providing care to those with life limiting illness across the town.
Azizah Plowes has been the store manager at Mapplewell since it opened and says she has seen many changes during that time.
One of those is the number of volunteers it has recruited who sort through donated items, prepare them for sale and work on the shop floor.
Azizah said: "The best thing about the Barnsley Hospice shop is meeting people in the community, both the customers and the volunteers who we couldn't do without.
"There have been more than 30 volunteers throughout those ten years who have helped us grow from strength to strength."
Julie Broadhead is one of the new recruits who has been volunteering there for a month.
She said: "I got involved after my dad passed away. I had left my job to care for him and after his death found it very hard.
"One day I was dropping some of my dad's things off at the Mapplewell shop and got talking to the volunteers and Azizah.
"I had wanted to do something for myself but didn't feel ready to back to work full-time so volunteering a few hours a week seemed ideal."
