A plea has been made for Borderers to help secure the future of four fundraising charity shops

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland operates popular stores at 3-7 Park Street in Galashiels, 61 High Street in Hawick, 8-16 Horsemarket in Kelso and 1 High Street, Melrose.

The outlets are to reopen after lockdown easing on Monday, April 26.

But the charity has lost more than £400,000 in income across its 45 shops nationwide during the last four months.

And to ensure the quartet of outlets long-term survival they desperately need volunteers to come forward.

Carole Edwards, regional retail manager at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be reopening our doors again and the team are really looking forward to welcoming back our customers.

"We’re desperately looking for volunteers to help keep the store running and we are urging people in the four towns to spare a few hours a week in the shop.

"Our volunteers are vital in helping us run our shops and in raising funds to help people in the Borders and across Scotland live their lives to the full.

"Lots of us are looking forward to getting back out and seeing our local high streets busy and bustling again. By joining our friendly team you’ll be helping to save your local stores as our communities get back on their feet after lockdown.

"The safety of our staff, volunteers and customers is a priority and the safety measures that we put in place in the summer are still running in the shops. All stock is quarantined for 72 hours, cough screens and hand sanitised stations are installed and there is a limit to the number of people allowed in the shop at any time.

"We will begin accepting stock from Monday, April 26th. We always receive the most amazing donations from the local community and we’re so thankful for their continued support. To help the team manage donations, we’re asking anyone who has stock to donate to please give the shop a ring to arrange a drop-off time.”

If you’d like to volunteer at one of the four Borders stores please email their volunteer team at [email protected].