A HALESOWEN charity shop is set to reopen later this week and is appealing for people to support it.

Acorns Children’s Hospice will reopen its store on High Street on Thursday (June 18).

Social distancing will be observed in the shop, staff and volunteers will be given protective equipment and the number of shoppers in the store at one time will be limited.

The Halesowen shop is one of 22 Acorns is opening across the West Midlands opening after weeks of planning as part of a phased return - also opening on Thursday will be the Blackheath and Dudley shops.

They will be open from Monday to Saturday with the reduced opening hours of 10am to 4pm.

The charity said it needs the support of the community as it continues to care for some of the region’s most vulnerable families and supports the NHS.

It costs £27,000 every day to run Acorns services.

Gary Pettit, Head of Retail at Acorns, said: “We’re really looking forward to reopening our shops on Thursday and welcoming our customers back.

"The safety of our customers, staff and volunteers is our top priority so there will be some changes.

“We’ve introduced a number of safety safety measures, including social distancing, protective equipment for staff and volunteers and we will be limiting the number of people permitted into each shop at any one time.

"We want everyone to return to our shops with confidence, so thank you for your patience.”

The charity is also appealing for people to join its team of volunteers.

Gary said “The support of our volunteers is just as important as our customers in helping us continue our work caring for children and families.

“We rely on people generously donating their time to help staff our shops and with many of our volunteers being among the vulnerable isolating at home, we are appealing for more people to join Team Acorns.”

Acorns charity shops provide a crucial source of income for the charity, helping it fund its vital care for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.

Acorns is continuing to provide emergency and end of life hospice care as well as emotional and practical support to hundreds of families in strict isolation at home.

It also temporarily closed its Birmingham hospice and offered the facility for use in the emergency response.

For more details on your nearest shop or how to become a volunteer visit www.acorns.org.uk/shops

Shops reopening across the West Midlands include: Alcester, Bilston, Barnards Green, Blackheath, Bloxwich, Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Droitwich, Dudley, Halesowen, Lichfield, Kings Heath, Knowle, Pershore, Perton, Scott Arms, Shirley, St Peters, Southam, Upton and Weoley Castle.