A CHARITY shop in south east Ipswich is to celebrate its third anniversary next month.Staff at the St Elizabeth Hospice shop in Nacton Road says its success is largely down to the support of the community.

A CHARITY shop in south east Ipswich is to celebrate its third anniversary next month.

Staff at the St Elizabeth Hospice shop in Nacton Road says its success is largely down to the support of the community.

Julia Johnson has been manager of the store since it opened in October 2001.

She said: "There is always a certain amount of trepidation associated with opening a new shop – you can never be quite sure of the response that you will get – but we have been really lucky, the community support has been truly wonderful.

"We are really thrilled to be celebrating our third anniversary and are indebted to the people in the area who support us.

"Regular customers, who pop in for a chat whilst they browse, have become friends and there's great team spirit here amongst the staff – we're just like one big, happy family."

The Nacton Road store is one of nine outlets in the region selling donated goods in aid of the hospice.

In the past three years it has raised over £70,000, the equivalent of 443 hours of patient care.

To mark the anniversary a colouring competition is being held at Murrayfield Primary School.

Entries will be displayed in the window of the shop and members of the public are invited to vote for the one that they like the best.

The shop is also well known for its doll collection and will have its annual collection of dolly paraphernalia on show in the first week of November.

If you have items that you would like to donate for sale please get in touch with your nearest hospice shop or call 01473 604097. Alternatively, if you are in a position to sell hospice merchandise through a club, society, event, friend or neighbour please call 01473 604674.