A SWINDON charity shop is being forced to reduce its opening hours and even close due to a lack of volunteers. 

The Survivor charity shop in Swindon town centre, which raises funds for combatting domestic abuse and supporting victims, has been forced to close several times this month. 

In a post on its Facebook page earlier this month, a spokesperson for the charity said: "Due to a shortage of volunteers, our fundraising shop, Survivor, in Swindon town centre is unable to open today (Thursday April 13) - back tomorrow!

Then just two days later another post indicated another closure, it said: "Sorry everyone - with holidays etc, our Survivor fundraising shop is really struggling this week - we don't have enough volunteers to open tomorrow, Saturday 15th."

Now the store, located in the Parade, is looking for more volunteers so that it can maintain its regular opening hours. 

Its CEO Joanna Emery has asked for any members of the public who are interested to get in touch and has also praised the team of volunteers currently working. 

"Survivor is currently run solely by volunteers and recently has had to remain closed due to there not being enough volunteers to safely open," she said. 

"Our volunteer team are very committed, however particularly in the afternoons and on Saturdays they have other commitments, and we are hoping to recruit more volunteers to the team. 

"There are a wide variety of tasks including sorting through donations, pricing stock, serving customers, setting up displays, collecting larger donations and some volunteers become Team Leaders, taking overall responsibility for the shop on agreed days."

Money raised in the shop goes directly to offering support to people in Swindon experiencing domestic abuse including refuge, one-to-one support in the community, group work, support for children and young people who have lived with domestic abuse and the Open2Change Programme, for people who use abusive behaviours and want to change.  

The charity moved to the existing store in February 2022 and has had a 'fantastic year' with the income from the shop paying for two full-time workers supporting victims of domestic abuse. 

"Anyone who is interested in volunteering with us can get in touch by emailing survivor@swindonwomensaid.org, we will ask for some basic details of volunteers and offer the opportunity for new people to have a test shift to see if it is right for them," Joanna added. 

Volunteers are reimbursed for their travel/parking costs.

Anyone who needs support around domestic abuse can call us 24 hours a day on 01793 610610.