Cosgrove Care will close the doors of its charity shop in Shawlands on 8 November 2021 after nearly 21 years of serving the Glasgow Community.
Cosgrove’s Charity Shop has been a very popular focus in the community for two decades and its success was down to the incredible volunteers who have supported the charity and an amazing teams of retail staff who have provided loyal service over the years. The shop was known in it’s time as the ‘Harrods of Shawlands’ as a result of the generous donations made by the community.
The shop has also served to provide supported employment opportunities for hundreds of people with learning disabilities and additional needs – helping them to move on to further training, education and employment. This vital work will continue from Cosgrove’s new employability hubs at Rouken Glen Park and the charity is excited to be developing this work further with a qualification pathway for young people and support from the Isabella Trust and Glasgow City Council. The hubs were officially opened by the Provost of East Renfrewshire earlier this year.
The decision to close the shop was made by the Board of Directors following the significant impact of COVID 19 on charity retail and challenges in altering the building. Colin Black, Co-Chair of Cosgrove Care said:
It has been a hard decision after so many years of serving the local community and providing supported employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities, but the shop is not making the necessary money to make it viable into the future. Our supported employment service will continue from our hubs at Young Enterprise at Rouken Glen Park and we are very glad that this work is starting up again as we seek to provide support and qualifications for people with learning disabilities to find future work, training and supported employment. We are very grateful to all the loyal volunteers who have supported Cosgrove and thank them for their many years of service.
COVID-19 has placed many challenges on charities like Cosgrove who have needed to provide the very best essential support to keep people with learning disabilities and additional needs safe and well during this time. This has meant re-directing resources to this vital task and focus on the key aims of Cosgrove Care. Cosgrove currently provides essential care for over 250 children, adults and older adults and demand for their services is intense. In addition,through COVID 19, Cosgrove has continued to provide vital support to local people who need it and we have been overwhelmed by the support we have received to do this work. To date Cosgrove have delivered 5000 acts of kindness to keep local people safe and connected with the help of local volunteers. The charity is urging anyone who needs support to get in touch and anyone who would like to volunteer to contact them by calling 0141 620 2500 or emailing care@cosgrovecare.org.uk.
The best way to continue support of Cosgrove is through their Community Appeal, which provides support to the most vulnerable people in the community in addition to bolstering core services. As we approach the festive season, this support is vitally important – more information can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/cosgrovecare
The charity also has several fundraising initiatives on the go to continue to raise vital funds including a virtual Whisky Tasting on 20 November 2021. More information is available by contacting Sharon Kaye on the above number.
Cosgrove would like to take the opportunity to thank donors, supporters and volunteers for all their support over the years.