shop talk 7

Fashion Special: Exclusive pictures of the new Friends Shop uniforms.

Putting volunteering at the heart of health and social care Issue 7 Spring 2010

Shop talk

2 Shop Talk | Issue 7 Spring 2010

Shop Talk is published by Attend Retail

Written and edited by: David Elcock and Liberty Rowley

Design by: Liberty Rowley at Attend Creative [email protected]

Send your letters, retail news, questions, feature ideas and feedback to David Elcock [email protected]

If you represent a company whose services may benefit Attend Retail’s member outlets please contact David Elcock [email protected]

In this issue:

Attend, 11-13 Cavendish Square London, W1G 0AN Tel: 0845 450 0285 Fax: 0207 307 2571 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.attend.org.uk

©2010 Attend. A company limited by guarantee registered in England under no. 5713403 and in Scotland under no. SCO39237. Registered Charity no. 1113067.

Welcome to Shop Talk!

Contact details

• Top tips for shop merchandising

• Go Fairtrade• Selling medicine: The Law

and your shop• New Friends Shop uniform

fashion shoot• Attend Retail Award winners• New Friends Shop branding• News from our Friends

Shop Talk

John Lewis’ window dresser, Natasha Friend shares a few simple ideas to make your shop as profitable as possible.

Positioning stock

On most of your racking, products should be displayed by category: i.e. soft drinks, crisps, women’s magazines. This makes your shop easily “shopable”, customers are lazy and if they can’t immediately see what they are looking for, they will leave without spending any money.

Quick convenience products (snack foods, drinks etc.) should be the easiest things to find. Items that customers take a little longer to shop for (gifts, magazines etc.) can be in less accessible parts of your shop.

Your most popular and attractive items should be at eye level. Smaller items should be on the highest shelf and larger items should be on the lowest shelf. You should be able to see across the top of your gondolas, which will make your shop feel spacious and well-ordered.

Promotional Areas

When choosing products for promotional areas, windows and gondola ends, ask yourself the following questions?

What products make this shop special? Perhaps an exclusive line, something that is of exceptional value, your best seller, something that is very attractive or something that represents your Friends group?

Do the products make sense as a group? Group products by colour and style. This will grab the attention of customers and encourage them to make impulse buys.

Am I telling a story? Put pencils with the crossword books, put towels with bars of soap and put mugs with coffee and biscuits. Promotional ends are an opportunity to be creative with your product layout and break the rules that you have in the rest of your shop.

Can the product I’ve chosen be enhanced by a top selling line? Sometimes you will have a back-log of a slow-selling line, place it with a fast-selling line, for example, group an unpopular dip with a fast-selling line of crisps. Customers will associate the popular item with the less appealing item and buy both. But always remember to stick to a similar price range, putting a budget product with a premium product will only cheapen the premium product.

Not all of these tips will be practical to your shop or your product assortment, but give some a try and see if you raise more money.

Top tips for shop merchandising

Welcome to the seventh issue of Shop Talk. We’ve been incredibly busy over the last year. Attend celebrating 60 years of supporting our

members has not been an excuse to stop what we were doing and look back at past achievements (I should be so lucky!) We have used it as a spur to make plans for the next 60 years. One of the visions we have is for Friends Shops to continue

to grow and develop into retail outlets recognised up and down the country for their quality products, competitive prices, friendly service and as an excellent choice for customers who care about their local hospital and health services.

We have been working hard to support you in making this happen.

David Elcock, Attend Retail Manager

3Shop Talk | Issue 7 Spring 2010

News

Nestlé UK have announced Kit Kat, the UK’s favourite chocolate biscuit, is certified Fairtrade in the UK and Ireland. This move follows the launch of Nestlé’s global Cocoa Plan which represents a £65 million investment over the next ten years in programmes to address the key economic, social and environmental issues facing cocoa farming communities.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms for farmers and workers in developing countries. By stocking your shop with Fairtrade products, your customers can support their local hospital and Friends group as well as farmers and families all over the world.

Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan is focusing on the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producing country, the aim is to use Nestlé’s agricultural and scientific know-how to improve the quality and yield of cocoa plants, offer farmer training and education and improve the social conditions for farmers and their communities.

Fairtrade certification of Kit Kat will mean additional payments for the farmers to invest in community or business development projects, such as improving healthcare and schools.

David Rennie, Managing Director, Nestlé Confectionery, said: “UK consumers are

increasingly interested in how we source and manufacture their favourite products and certifying our largest and most iconic brand is one of the ways in which we are committing to improving the lives of as many cocoa farming families as possible. Over 6000 Ivorian farmers will benefit immediately as a result of this announcement.”

Certifying its biggest confectionery brand brings to life a shared ambition between Nestle and Fairtrade to empower Ivorian cocoa farmers to help them improve their lives and give them a better deal in return for high-quality cocoa.

Additional sustainability initiatives which will be funded by Nestlé as part of The Cocoa Plan include:

• Plant expertise. Improving the quantity and quality of yields by providing 12 million stronger, more productive cocoa trees to farmers over the next 10 years

• Farmer training and assistance. Teaching more efficient, sustainable farming methods, such as the effective pruning of trees, fermentation and drying of beans

• Improving the supply chain. Nestlé is committed to buy beans from farms which use sustainable practices; helping cooperatives and farmer associations by speeding up the process from farm to export

Go Fairtrade

• Better social conditions. Nestlé is working with partner organisations such as the International Cocoa Initiative and the World Cocoa Foundation to tackle issues such as child labour and poor access to education

Nestlé has been working in the Ivory Coast, one of the poorest countries in the world, for over 50 years. As a leader in cocoa and coffee plant science Nestlé has pioneered techniques to producer higher quality seedlings and help farmers increase productivity, investing over £35 million in sustainability initiatives in the last 15 years and supplying over 17 million coffee and cocoa plantlets to producer countries.

The Fairtrade Foundation has licensed over 3000 products in the UK. The UK market for Fairtrade products has tripled in recent years and is currently valued at over £700 million.

Turn your shop FairtradeNow is the time to get involved and go Fairtrade. Encourage your customers to swap their usual brand for a Fairtrade product. Over 20% of coffee sold in the UK is already Fairtrade, is yours? Stock your shop with Fairtrade food, drink, toiletries, clothing and a whole range of other products. Your customers can now support their local hospital and Friends group as well as farmers and families all over the world.

Over 17 million people got involved in Fairtrade Fortnight last year, this year it took place on 22 Feburary-7 March 2020.

For information and ideas on how you can get involved as a business or as an individual, visit: www.fairtrade.org.uk or contact [email protected] for Attend Fairtrade suppliers.

Cocoa farmer, Frederic will benefit from the new Fairtrade four-finger Kit Kat with new trees and training.


The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work, and are acceptably safe. No product is risk-free. They keep watch over medicines and devices, and take any necessary action to protect the public promptly if there is a problem. Patient safety is the Agency’s prime consideration in any decision to give a medicine a Prescription Only Medicine, Pharmacy (P) or General Sales List (GSL) status.

Medicines described as Over the Counter (OTC) include GSL and P classified medicines. GSL medicines can be sold from retail premises such as Friends Shops, providing the medicines are pre-packed and the premises can be closed to exclude the public. P medicines are only available from a pharmacy and only sold under the supervision of a pharmacist.

Restrictions Measures to reduce aspirin and paracetamol pack sizes came into force on September 1998. The restrictions were designed to improve the safety of OTC painkillers following concern about the number of deaths and overdosing.

Only tablets containing 200mg of ibuprofen may be sold in a Friends Shop and the largest pack size, which may be sold, is 16 tablets. Higher strength preparations and larger pack sizes are available from pharmacies.

It is legal to sell up to 100 tablets per transaction without a prescription. The MHRA, however, strongly discourages multiple sales and multi-buy promotions for these analgesics. The MHRA has agreed voluntary restrictions with the pharmaceutical industry, the British Retail Consortium and the Office of Fair Trading

that restricts multiple sales of analgesics and analgesic containing products to reduce the potential for abuse or excessive use of medicines or accidental poisoning in children.

Stalls and Vending Machines Medicines cannot be sold from market stalls or vehicles, e.g. at a car boot sale, because such “premises” are not recognised by the Medicines Act. However, some medicines can be sold or supplied from vending machines, as long as the products are pre-packed and the machine is situated in premises which the occupier can lock so as to exclude the public. Vending machines can only be stocked with GSL medicines and must also comply with any legal restrictions on pack sizes and quantities.

For more informationMHRA Information Centre: 0207 084 2000 or email: [email protected]

Selling medicine: the Law and you

• We supply paperbacks by bestselling authors • You receive 60 assorted paperbacks with a maximum of three copies of any title

• WSP £1.30. Suggested RSP £1.99 or £2.99• Our titles are constantly changing• Local merchandiser available for support.• Successful sales already achieved in many Hospital outlets

Contact Ian Walker on 01535 682928 for more info.

Great value paperbacks

Guidance


News

The first ever Attend charity golf day was held in September 2009. The day saw eight teams of three competitors from, Stackhouse Poland, Palmer & Harvey Mclane Ltd, Blow & Scrimshaw Shop fitters (B&S), Flowerfete, Keypak Convenience Foods, JC Consulting, Brownatt Ltd and a team representing Attend compete.

The weather was fine and after breakfast rolls, coffee and a bucket of complimentary balls for the driving range the teams were announced on the first tee.The teams were eager and ready to take the great opportunity to play golf on a beautiful course, nestled between picturesque locks with panoramic views of the rolling countryside towards the River Trent.

After 4-5 hours on the course taking part in the AM AM Stableford Competition the eventual winners were:

Team Event sponsored by Stackhouse Poland79pts, Winners, JC Consulting (David Riley, Dave Rippon, D White)

Individual Event sponsored by P&H1st David Rippon, JC Consulting - 38pts2nd Pam Lakin, Brownett Ltd - 38pts3rd Richard Bridger, P&H - 37pts

Longest Drive sponsored by

Stackhouse PolandIan Tranter, Flowerfete

Nearest the Pin sponsored by Blow &

Scrimshaw Shop Fitters Dave Riley, JC Consulting

Putting Competition sponsored by

CadburysDave Atkin, B&S, 30pts

The final hole saw players attempt to beat the clubs head professional Mark Taylor, by placing their ball on the green and closer to hole from the tee shot. Only three of the 24 golfers managed this task, which goes to show why Mark is the Head Pro.

The fun on the course was followed by a wonderful three course meal at the Lock Restaurant where the teams regaled each other with their tales from the course. The evening’s proceedings were completed with a speech and presentation of prizes by David Wood the Chief Executive of Attend who thanked all the competitors and sponsors for helping the day go so well.

Over £1,500 was raised toward the vital work of Attend supporting Health & Social Care Charities across the UK.

Enter the next Golf DayThe next Attend charity golf day is on Wednesday 9th June at Trent Lock Golf Centre Lock Lane, Sawley, Long Eaton, Nottingham.

There will be prizes for:• Winning team• Best three individual players• Nearest the Pin• Longest Drive • Putting competition.

The day will include:• Coffee/tea and breakfast roll on arrival• Free golf range token for all players• 18 hole team Stableford competition

and individual competition • Beat the Pro and Putting competition• Three course prize presentation dinner.

The cost per team of three for companies is £250.The cost for individuals from Member groups is £50.

To secure a place as a company or individual please email us to register your interest: [email protected] call 0207 307 2570.

Attend charity golf day


Eileen Hancock, Lillian Parks and Barbara Starling pose with items their fundraising has paid for. Photos by Samantha Harvey, Hair by Just Soe

Feature

The Friends of Medway Maritime Hospital have become the first of our member groups to take advantage of the professionally designed Friends Shop branding. The new branding includes exciting new uniforms for shop and cafe staff, the uniforms are designed to appeal to everyone. The range is unisex and currently includes a forest green tabard, a forest green or kiwi green short-sleeved polo shirt and a forest green zipped hoodie. All of the uniforms come embroidered with a Friends Shop/Cafe logo and the name of the hospital. Recently we met up with

four Medway volunteers to find out about the groups achievements and photograph them in their new uniforms.

The four volunteers modeling for us were: Lillian Parks, who has been volunteering at Medway since she retired from retail eight years ago; Barbara Stalring, who previously worked as a secretary in the hospital before seeking out new working challenges in the shop; Eileen Hancock who has volunteered in the shop for five years and Gill Williams who has been volunteering in different parts of the hospital for ten years.

New Friends Shop uniforms launched

The photo shoot began at 10 o’clock on a wet October morning at Medway Hospital. But the volunteers didn’t let the rain dampen their spirits as they crowded into shop manager, Margaret Gilham’s modest office to have their hair styled by Chantelle and Sarah from the Just Soe hair academy. Once Chantelle and Sarah had curled, spritzed and pinned the ladies’ hair we headed to the physio room with our photographer, Samantha Harvey.

In the physio room Lillian, Barabra, Eileen and Gill saw some of the equipment their hard work had paid for including two new


exercise bikes and a cross trainer. The ladies all took turns to use the machinery and posed for photographs with some of the physio equipment, including pulling some balletic poses at the exercise bar. Our four volunteers began to relax into being models-for-the-day as Samantha took more and more photographs, before we knew it the they were posing with the giant exercise balls!

Next, the volunteers went to the osteoporosis department to see what a difference they have made there. The entire department has had a make-over with new beds, new chairs and a lilac paint job, much of which has been paid for by the Friends Shop and Friends Cafe. Staff from the osteoporosis department were brimming with gratitude for the volunteers helping them re-vamp their department. One lady from the department told us how the new colour and furniture is “calming for the patients” and was really well suited to helping patients move about.

It was a fantastic opportunity for Lillian, Barabra, Eileen and Gill to see the equipment they had been working so hard for. Lillian told us that often the technical names of machinery means very little, but meeting the people and seeing the equipment they had paid for in the flesh “made it all worthwhile”.

By this point the volunteers were really enjoying posing for Samantha who took shots of the ladies with the osteoporosis equipment.

The shoot ended back where we had started; the Friends Shop. It was great to take pictures of the volunteers in their new shop wearing the new uniforms. The volunteers posed in their new shop with more equipment that they had raised money for, including a baby bather, a blood pressure tester.

The Medway Friend Shop and Friends Cafe had their official launch at the end of October 2009 and the new branding design has been a real hit. The shop and cafes are brighter and more appealing to customers, whilst new signage tells visitors to the shops and cafe about the work the volunteers are doing and about the Friends

past achievements. More Friends Cafes across the country are taking on the new branding. The Friends Cafe and Friends Shop brand is a sign of a good-value, compassionate retailer.

The new range of Friends Shop and Friends Cafe uniforms can be personalised for your shop and come in a variety of styles and sizes.

The new retail brand includes designs for everything Friends Cafes and Friends Shops need; from re-usable flasks to signage, floor stickers to window kits and shop refits.

Feature

Lillian is prepared by Chantelle and Sarah

ContactFor more information or for a quote contact David Elcock, Attend Retail Manager by email: [email protected]

Volunteer models from left to right: Eileen Hancock, Lillian Parks, Gill Williams. Barbara Starling in back.

You can see more of Samantha’s photos of the Friends of Medway in their new uniforms

on the webiste: www.attend.org.uk/attend-retail


Attend Retail at the 60th AGM

Across the UK there are over 300 Attend member retail outlets in hospital and community locations. Every day, volunteers and paid staff rise early to receive deliveries, stack shelves, load trolleys and boil kettles readying themselves to serve patients, visitors and staff. As they go about these tasks, freely giving of their time, their activities not only raise much needed funds for the charities work, but their friendly smiles and listening ears provide a priceless service in making a hospital a more friendly human place to visit and work.

The Retail Awards recognised all the hard work put in buy our Retail Volunteers.

The WOW! Factor Award sponsored by Blow & Scrimshaw

The League of Friends of Nuffield

Orthopaedic Centre won with their beautiful mural their cafe really comes alive.

Highest Average Weekly Retail Volunteering Hours Award

The Winners were Queen Alexandra Hospital League of Friends. With 246 hours of retail volunteering a week in their café, shop and former second hand shop. The 246 hours equates to £74,193 pounds donated per year at the minimum wage – as we know volunteers are worth much more than the minimum wage! The award was collected by Mary Sheppard, Chair of the Friends.

League of Friends of Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre winners of the WOW! Factor Awards sponsored by Blow & Scrimshaw Shop Fitters. Photo by Roger Askew

Retail Volunteer of the Year Award

The Winner was June Webb, Friends of Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. June has been part of the Friends of Moorfields volunteer team for more than fifteen years. She attends the Friends’ Hospital Shop on two days every week. In addition to shop duties June helps to organise the monthly sale of books and donated goods.

Attend Retail Award winners

Mary Sheppard. Photo by Ramon Andarias

June Webb. Photo by Ramon Andarias


Young Retail Volunteer of the Year Award

Robert Tomlin aged 19, a volunteer at the 4Youth Juice Bar was nominated by the 4Youth Treasurer Steve Proctor who wrote of Rob; “Robert originally came to the project aged 16 and volunteered to assist with the renovation of the building, working hard to kit out and set up the Juice Bar. Rob has developed his involvement to a full time volunteer and completed his 100 v hours.” Rob’s volunteering has led to a catering apprenticeship and an NVQ in catering.

Paid Person of the Year Award

Martin Butler, the League of Friends of the Royal Berkshire Hospital. As the Leagues’ Development Manager, Martin oversaw the League taking over an empty shop at the entrance to the Maternity Block. The shop is not only for the Hospital but also one for the community. It stands on the outside of the Hospital and allows anyone walking by to enter.

Martin has developed a lunchtime trolley round, taken the Friends into the community with its monthly car boot sales and, Hospital Fetes on sunny Saturdays in June. He is working with three other charities in running a charity tea kiosk at a new landmark for Reading Borough Council called Caversham Court.

P&H Retail Outlet of the Year sponsored by Palmer & Harvey Mclane Ltd

The Winners were Colchester League of Hospital & Community Friends who have in total

seven retail outlets associated with their group: One main walk-in shop, seven satellite shops ranging from walk-in shops to kiosks, a ward trolley shop and a newspaper round. As a group they raise around £600-700,000 a year to support the hospital.


Robert Tomlin. Photo by Ramon Andarias

Martin Butler. Photo by Ramon Andarias

Raj Shah of Palmer and Harvey with Pamela Morton, Chair of Attend present Mr and Mrs Fletcher of Colchester League of Friends with the Friends award. Photo by Ramon Andarias

• Attend Retail P&H Outlet of the Year

• Highest Average Volunteer Hour

Contribution per shop per week

• Retail Volunteer of the Year Award

This Award is for a volunteer who has

shown exceptional commitment and

performance, and made a measurable

difference to the shop, café or trolley service.

• Young Retail Volunteer of the Year

This award is aimed at recognising the

importance of young volunteers to the

success of Friends retail and to encourage

more young volunteers to come forward.

• Paid Person of the Year

This award is aimed at recognising the

sterling work that paid members of staff

also contribute to the success and essence

of Friends retail activities.

• Attend Retail Category Champion Award

The new Attend Retail Category

Champion Awards are designed not only

to celebrate success and commitment,

but also invest in Friends Retail across the

UK. Nominate your outlet for a category

make-over and take part in a trial with the

category sponsors. The winners will be

based on the highest percentage increase

of sales in:

• Excellence in Confectionery

• Excellence in Soft Drinks: sponsored by GSK

• Excellence in Children’s Confectionery:

sponsored by Barrett’s.

For more information visit:

www.attend.org.uk

Nominate your shop for the Retail Awards 2010 for:


The new Friends Shop brand showcased

The life size Friends Shop fully stocked at the AGM. Photo by Ramon Andarias

Attend Retail enlisted the help of Blow & Scrimshaw, one of our nominated shop fitters, to erect one of the exhibition highlights of the AGM and Diamond Jubilee in October. The idea was to build a full size retail shop highlighting the latest innovation from Attend Retail. The early hours of the AGM day saw the B&S van arrive at the Kings Fund to set to work. And from 6.30am to 9am a meeting room was turned into a full blown Friends Shop along with stock, signage, shelving, counter and racking. Many people visited the shop over the two days and commented on how vibrant, alive and fresh the new look was. The great news is this look is available for all groups to take advantage of. No matter what size your outlet, form a kiosk, café, trolley to walk in shop the brand can be applied. This will enable people to recognise visually the great work that Attend members do across the UK and vote with their wallet by choosing to shop with you.

The shop was stocked with products from Attend Retail’s many partners; delivered wholesalers, manufacturers, companies and suppliers, who are able to provide you with an attractive package of discounts, product support, free training and more to increase service and profitability for

your charity.

Raynor Foods attended the AGM to show their delicious sandwiches to our member groups. Delighted Friends sampled their many tasty samples and discussed how Raynor could supply their sandwich needs.

Boredom will no longer be a factor when waiting the endless hours in A&E. Often the wait can be long when visiting A&E and Intel Solutions have provided a boredom buster in their Quiz Machines. People can pit their wits against the

machine on many different types of games. This can be set up to be just for fun or indeed can pay out for those that beat the machine. Not only does this alleviate boredom, but also helps raise funds for your group as 50% of the takings are donated directly to your group.

CatchMyAd.tv supply and install LCD screens for Friends groups for fundraising. The screens show selected advertisements and can show information about your Friends group.

Fiona from Kelloggs not only brought with her stock for the Mock Shop, she stayed all day to chat to visitors about the whole range of Kelloggs products that can be stocked by your Friends Shop.

The Shop was also fully stocked with the latest greetings cards from Noel Tatt. Lee showed David Elcock the new designs.

David Elcock with Heather Raynor and Catherine Van Doc of Raynor Foods. Photo by Stuart Day

Oliver and Alex of Intel Solutions. Photo by Stuart Day

Fiona Speakman showed off the new Kelloggs range. Photo by Stuart Day

Lee Hartley of Noel Tatt Greetings Cards. Photo by Stuart Day


CatchMyAd.tv and their flat screens.


Friends profile

Margaret Gilham plays a vital role at Medway Hospital. As general manager for the Medway League of Friends she heads up a team that raises an enormous amount of money to provide extra equipment – a staggering quarter of a million pounds last year.

What do the Friends of Medway Maritime Hospital do? We raise money to support health services in the Medway area by operating four shops at Medway Maritime Hospital. We have outlets in A&E, a new branded Friends Shop and Cafe in the reception area and another in A Block. We also have a kiosk in

the Walter Bruce centre in Hoo and a shop in Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital.

When did the Friends of Medway Maritime Hospital first start? More than 40 years ago.

Is it purely a fundraising operation? As we are a charity, all our profit goes back into the hospital, but we also provide a valuable service for patients who find they need anything from toothpaste to something to read or that vital aid to recovery – chocolate. We also give family, friends and staff a break and somewhere to buy snacks and other things.

How many members do you have? We have 150, and we need every single one of them to keep all our shops open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. The outlet in A&E is open 24 hours a day when possible.

How much do you raise in an average year? In our last financial year we raised £250,000 towards medical equipment and ‘little extras’ for patients that the NHS Trust was unable to provide.

What kind of things do you spend the money on? Last year we funded £120,000 worth of endoscopy, thoroscopy and foetal monitoring equipment plus nearly 50 other items including ultrasound scanners, chairs, various monitors, trolleys, ventilators,

wheelchairs, furniture, tilt tables and toys.

How would you describe a typical volunteer? We really don’t have a typical volunteer; they come from all walks of life. What they share is a desire to help people at what can be a difficult time. One of our volunteers, Mrs Joan Baynes, has been a member of the Friends for 40 years, is ninety years old and is still active.

How important is the work of the Friends? With mainstream hospital equipment so expensive and new treatments coming on stream all the time, it is simply not possible for the normal NHS budget to pay for everything. Our volunteers play a crucial role in working hard to provide extra equipment and comforts for patients and providing a smiling face for patients and visitors at the same time.

Do you need more volunteers? We always need more volunteers. Anyone who can spare some time should phone Margaret on 01634 830000 ext 3695.

Thanks to Malcolm Triggs of the Medway Maritime Hospital for allowing us the use of this interview.

On the spot with Margaret Gillham

People working in Caversham, Reading can now take a break in one of the most beautiful gardens in town.

The kiosk in Caversham Court Gardens is now open on Thursdays and Fridays and every weekend during the summer.

It is being run by four local charities: The League of Friends of Royal Berkshire Hospital, the Ways and Means Trust, Duchess of Kent House and the Women’s Institute.

Martin Butler, development manager at The League of Friends, said: “We are serving

teas, soft drinks and home made cakes: I must emphasise they are home made cakes.What more tranquil and beautiful place is there in Reading to come and have your lunch if you work in the area? I would urge everyone to come along and see how beautifully Reading Borough Council has redeveloped the gardens.”

He said trade had been brisk and the new arrangement was of great benefit to the four charities.

The kiosk has been closed for the winter months and reopens on 1st April 2010.

Tea and cakes in Caversham Court Gardens

Far right; Martin Butler of the Royal Berkshire Friends.

Margaret Gillham. Photo from Medway Hospital


Friends news

The League of Friends of St Mary’s Portsmouth have had their Out Patients coffee shop refurbished. They used a local firm of shop fitters that had worked on the Trust premises previously, and were truly delighted with the outcome. The shop is no larger than previously, but with the new lighting, counter fridge, new flooring and all new units and displays, it looks wonderful.

“We have had so many staff and patients comment on the upgrade, it has been such hard work, but so worthwhile.” said Alison Earle of the League.

Before and after: The League of Friends of St Mary’s Portsmouth

Golden service

The Friends Shop before the revamp. And after!

2009 was a good year for the trolley team at Eastbourne Friends, with many new volunteers joining the old hands ensuring that a regular service went out everyday to all the wards. This, of course, resulted in many satisfied customers as well as an increase in funds raised for the Friends. The volunteers work tirelessly; their dedication was appreciated by patients, staff and the Friends’ Executive Committee.In 2009 Sue Hitchen and Alf Pulfer, jointly won “Volunteer of the Year”; quite an achievement in an organisation that has 1,000 volunteers across the Trust!

Sue Hitchen and Alf Pulfer, Volunteers of the Year

Our delivered wholesale partner Palmer & Harvey (P&H), has launched its new transactional website. The online site, offering 24-hour ordering, is designed to provide greater flexibility to customers and add real value to your businesses.

P&H already provides 65 Attend members with a leading telesales service and over recent years, has continued to invest in retaining and nurturing its personal and direct contact with its customers. The new website provides an expanded service where Attend retailers can place or top up their orders at any time, day or night.

The site, which was trialed extensively, is easy to navigate and designed to be convenient, quick and simple to use. Like the best consumer-facing websites, customers’ past orders and ‘favourite’

items will be uploaded and logged on the system, and those products recommended by P&H will all be clearly listed. Retailers will also be able to search for products by category or type.

Accessed via the P&H main website, www.palmerharvey.co.uk, customers will be able to choose from 7,000 chilled, ambient and frozen lines. Delivery will be made within 48 hours of ordering, the same time for delivery as those orders made through the telesales systems and offers all the same great Attend prices that are already available. P&H regularly price checks 400 best selling lines against Cash and Carry prices.

Commenting on the new website, Richard Hayhoe, Marketing Director at P&H said: “Our site is unique in that it is fully integrated with our existing telesales system. Our face-to-face contact with our customers is something we pride ourselves on and it remains a central to our service offering. However, in order to meet increasing demand for greater flexibility, we have supplemented this service with our new transactional website, which is designed to add real value to the busy lives of those retailers who use it”.

Attend has a big discount package with P&H, why not compare your prices? Call Valerie Hitchens 01273 648670 stating you are a member of Attend for more info.

Online ordering 24 hours a day


It doesn’t seem long since we were celebrating the festive season. However in retail there is no rest and Christmas 2010 is just around the corner. The sales of the Attend Christmas Card range have continued to grow in recent years in association with our partner Impress Publishing. This is great testament to the quality of the cards and service given, that Friends groups are returning to place repeat orders year on year. 2009 saw over 255,850 cards sold, and increase of 42,850 on our first year. This equates to over £75,000 worth of sales at RSP.

This year sees many new designs enter the range which can be personalised with your group’s details, available in packs of five and ten.

All cards are printed on high quality heavyweight 300gsm board with high gloss UV varnish, white envelopes, cello-packed in fives or tens with a backing slip. The cards will be ‘personalised’ and printed with your groups’ details inside. You can also choose your own greeting to be printed inside the card. Your details will also feature on the backing slip placed inside the cello-packs. You can also add information to encourage volunteers and donations.

Should you want to market your own design artwork then please call Impress Publishing for advice on 01227 811611.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

For an order form please contact the Attend customer care support team at Canterbury on 01227 811611 who are there to help and available to take your order.

Alternatively this can be downloaded from our website under the Attend Retail section: www.attend.org.uk

Model Volunteers

The 60th AGM was a great place to show off the new uniforms and the new Friends Shop branding. We asked our shop fitters, Blow & Scrimshaw to build us a whole shop in the King’s Fund building where we have our head office. The Friends Shop was built and showed off the new Friends Shop signage and shop fittings perfectly. But, we still needed a way to display the new uniforms. We approached John Lewis, the department store with it’s flagship Oxford Street branch just opposite us on Cavendish Square. They generously leant us two mannequins to

wear the polo shirts, available in kiwi and forest green and the forest green hoodie. These uniforms were leant by the Friends of Medway Maritime Hospital.

How to orderIf you would like new uniforms like these for your Friends Shop, contact David Elcock, Attend Retail Manager on Tel: 0207 307 2570 or Email: [email protected]

Retail news


Partner news

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Choc - 8 Lines1 Cadbury Chomp2 Milkybar Kids3 Kinder Surprise4 Cdm Buttons5 Cadburyland Fudge Kids Single6 Cadburyland Freddo Kids Single7 Milkybar Buttons8 Kinder Happy Hippo

Candy - 9 Lines1 Tooty Frooties Kids Single2 Barratts Candy Sticks3 Barratts Refreshers Kids Single4 Barratts Frosties Kola Kids Single5 Love Hearts Kids Singles6 Barratts Dolly Mix Kids Single7 ParmaViolets8 Millions Cola9 Millions Strawberry

Chews - 13 Lines1 Wham Chew Kids Single2 Haribo Maoam Minis Kids Single3 Barratts Fruit Salad Chews Kids Single4 Chewits Blackcurrant Kids Single5 Chewits Strawb Kids Single6 Giant Refresher Bar Strawb7 Giant Refresher Bar Orgnl8 Barratts Black Jacks Kids Single9 Barratts Fruit Salad Chew Bar10 Barratts Bruiser Black & Apple11 Barratts Black Jack Chew Bar12 Barratts Bruiser Kola13 Chewits Sour Apple

Gums - 8 Lines1 Jelly Tots Kids Single2 Haribo Starmix Kids Single3 Haribo Tangfastics Kids Single4 Fun GumsTeeth NToothbrush Kids Single5 Barratts Milk Bottles Kids Single6 Barratts Refreshers Gums Kids Single7 Haribo Goldbears8 Haribo Jolly Jellies

Lolly - 4 Lines1 Chupa Chups Original Kids Single2 Drumstick Chunky Original Kids Single3 Double Lolly Mega Kids4 Barratt Refresher Lolly

Mallow & Nougat - 2 Lines1 Barratts Flumps Twist Kids Single1 Barratts Nougat Original Kids Single

Other - 11 Lines1 Barratts Dip Dabs Kids Single2 Rainbow Drops Kids Single3 Topps Flip Pop Kids Single4 Swizzels Flick N Lick Kids Single5 Barratts Sherbet Fountain O Kids Single6 Mega Mouth Candy Spray7 Juicy Drop Pop8 Brain Licker9 Lickedy Lips10 Mega Dust11 ToxicWaste

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Big Kids Confectionery!

Barratt sales are in excess of £21m atretail – IRI infoscan April 2009

Barratt is a well known and longestablished range of Kids sweets

The range consists of many iconicproducts (Refreshers, the original

Nougat, Flumps and Dip Dab) that havebeen enjoyed over the years by bothchildren and adults alike

The brand was launched in 1848, withproducts such as Sherbet Fountain &Refreshers being introduced in the 1920’s

Some key facts about Barratts

Kids' Confectionery page:Layout 1 20/5/09 16:58 Page 1

Big kids confectionery

Does it come as a surprise to you that adults are the largest buyers of kids confectionery?Perhaps if you take a look

around the “kids” confectionery display you will take your taste buds back in time and realise that it is you adding to this fact!Do you remember Sherbet Fountains, DipDabs, Flumps, Fruit Salads and Black Jacks? We thought so!All these household names fall under theBarratt Brand (owned by TangerineConfectionery). The brand was launched in 1848, with Sherbet Fountains and Refreshers being

introduced in the 1920s. Tangerine Confectionery have been working closely with Attend to create a range and display to drive this growing category. Why not invite Barratts to help you with your confectionery range?Contact: Michael Carroll by email:[email protected]

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Shop Talk Magazine

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Recommended Range








Shop Talk Magazine

12









Recommended Range








Shop Talk Magazine

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