Popular charity shop chain closes its Wellingborough branch in Silver Street due to 'enormous pressure' of pandemic and cost of living crisis

Scope in Wellingborough’s Silver Street has closed its doors for the final time, citing a changing landscape and modern pressures as the reason for its departure from the town centre.

The charity vacated its Silver Street shop on March 9, and stock is currently being moved from the premises.

Debbie Boylen, head of retail at disability equality charity Scope, said: “We were very sad to close our charity shop in Silver Street, Wellingborough.

"We have had such incredible support from this wonderful and generous community. We never take the decision to close our stores lightly, recognising the impact it has on both our store teams, volunteers and our customers, so it was a very hard decision and not one we took lightly.

“The retail landscape has changed over the last few years and in Wellingborough, the store no longer remained viable to trade.

"The cost of living crisis, coupled with the pandemic, has placed an enormous pressure on stores trading on high streets across the UK.

“While providing a valuable service to the local community, our shops’ role is to raise vital funds so the charity can continue to provide vital support services for the country’s 16 million disabled people and their families.”

The closure comes just weeks after we conducted our annual town centre health check in Wellingborough where we found that its already high vacancy rate had risen to 17.4 per cent since 2023.

Scope was a part of the 2.8 per cent of charity shops in the area, but now 26-27 Silver Street will fall into the former category.

In March 2023, following research into shopper habits as a result of the pandemic and cost of living crisis Ruth Blazye, executive director of retail and communities at Scope, said: “The lockdowns, combined with the current cost of living crisis, have been a monumental disaster for the High Street and people’s spending power."

Scope has locations all over the UK, however, and with the closure of the Wellingborough branch, the closest Scope for local shoppers is now in Abington Street, Northampton.

There is currently no news as to what the unit may become.