It’s back! Charity Christmas retailer Cards for Good Causes will be re-opening its doors in St Albans tomorrow when lockdown ends.

It has been a very tough time for the not-for-profit organisation as November is usually the peak trading month, so they are hoping the local community will support them during December and that they can recoup some of the £100,000 lost revenue typically raised in St Albans each year.

Customers can choose from hundreds of different Christmas card designs, as well as gifts, stocking fillers, wrapping paper and gift tags. There is a socially distanced one-way system, plenty of hand sanitiser and other Covid-prevention measures in place to help keep customers and staff as safe as possible.

The St Albans pop-up shop is part of a network of more than 200 temporary shops around the UK, selling a huge selection of charity Christmas cards and seasonal gifts. In the last 10 years alone, Cards for Good Causes has raised an incredible £40 million for charity. It represents more than 250 charities including Cancer Research UK, Barnardo’s, Alzheimer’s Society and RNLI as well as a number of local charities such as the Fraternity of Friends of St Albans Cathedral.

Shop manager Patricia Kataria said: “2020 has been an incredibly difficult time for our participating charities which include so many household names, but we are so grateful to have our local community behind us and can’t wait to welcome everyone back on December 2. After November’s devastating closure, we hope to raise as much as possible of the £100,000 in the remaining weeks that we would normally raise each year so that our charities can get the vital funding that they so desperately need in 2020.

“With so many charity cards and gifts to choose from, we hope customers will feel that they are getting a little of that Christmas market feel whilst also raising money for charity at the same time.”

You can find the shop in The Lower Hall, Dagnall Street Baptist Church, Upper Dagnall Street, St Albans, AL3 5EE. Opening hours are Mondays-Fridays 10am-4pm and Saturdays 10am-5pm.