WESTON Hospicecare is set to open a flagship superstore and donation centre to raise funds to support people with life-limiting conditions. 

The new site will be based at a former Hyundai car showroom on Searle Crescent, opposite Waitrose and Howards Toyota. 

There will be an on-site drive-through donation centre, parking, and a community outreach room to help supporters learn more about the hospice's crucial work while they shop and make donations. 

The charity, which was founded in 1989, has over 700 volunteers and 150 dedicated staff members who care for people in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, and Sedgemoor. 

Its retail operations are currently coordinated from a depot in Lynx Crescent near Sutton, but the charity says it has no function to trade. 

The new larger site will allow trade and donation operations to take place at the same site. 

Emma King, Weston Hospicecare's director of retail, said: "This is such an exciting project and it’s due to such fantastic support of our customers and donors that we’re able to take this calculated step to grow our retail operation.

"The pandemic has hit the hospice’s retail arm especially hard and after much deliberation, planning, forecasting, and risk assessing, we have decided this is the solution to kick start a sustainable source of income for our treasured hospice."

Somerset County Gazette: ARTIST'S IMPRESSION: The charity has existing charity shops across Somerset (Image: Weston Hospicecare)ARTIST'S IMPRESSION: The charity has existing charity shops across Somerset (Image: Weston Hospicecare)

She added: "We cannot wait to open for trading and see our wonderful supporters enjoy visiting the store while supporting their local hospice."

Weston Hospicecare is planning to open its new superstore in the middle of February, with an exact date yet to be confirmed. 

The charity has also appealed for local people to consider volunteering to help staff the store.

Voluntary roles include - but are not limited to - till operatives, customer service assistants, and online team assistants.

Weston Hospicecare already runs 15 charity shops, including four in Weston-super-Mare, two in Burnham-on-Sea, and one in Cheddar.

The hospice is currently able to accept more donations than usual at its existing shops to ensure it will have enough stock for its superstore.

The charity was created after members of the Weston-super-Mare community recognised there was a need to support local people who were ill at the end of their lives. 

Its first day services began in 1991, and it opened an inpatient unit in 1997. 

Five years later, the hospice moved to Jackson-Barstow House in Uphill.

Now, Weston Hospicecare provides palliative care free of charge for more than 1,000 patients every year and supports their families.