ALTON’S Cardiac Rehab Shop could close within months unless its fortunes can be turned around, and a heartfelt appeal has gone out to the local community for support to help it survive.

With more than 20 years service under its belt, during which time it has raised many thousands of pounds to support local folk with or at risk of developing heart disease, this small charity outlet on Market Street is on the brink of closure.

Struggling to survive among some of the larger charity outlets in the town, the shop raises money to support essential and life-enhancing services provided by the Cardiac Rehab Centre on Chawton Park Road.

But according to Alton Cardiac Rehab general manager Martin Lovell, while the shop has had a presence in the town for more than two decades, it has struggled in recent years to generate a profit, and it has been due, in no small way, to a run of bad luck.

Mr Lovell said: “The trading environment in Alton has been difficult for a number of years. With increasing costs, declining sales, eBay and the continuing fierce competition from the large number of charity shops in the town (many run by national charities), the Cardiac Rehab trustees are faced with little room for manoeuvre.

“Trading has been tough, not helped last year by a flood which resulted in the shop being closed for three months. This further damaged a weakened trading position, and with the prospect of the shop having another difficult year the trustees have been faced with a desperately difficult decision.”

Mindful of their legal and moral responsibilities, Mr Lovell will be working with the board of trustees “to look at every option to ensure the shop remains open, but we have to face the prospect that the end result may still be closure”.

“We hope that isn’t the case,” he said, “and we recognise this is particularly hard on the loyal staff and volunteers who have worked tirelessly to make the shop a success, and we want to pay tribute to their dedication and effort.”

The team will also be talking to and enlisting the help of interested parties in a bid to find “a way forward to ensure the sustainability of the shop into the future”.

While the demise of the shop would not threaten the future of the services provided by the Cardiac Rehab Centre, it has been made clear that the charity still needs local support and that the shop not only provides a valuable source of income but an important presence in the town.

Trustee and Cardiac Rehab founder Dr Hugh Bethell said: “Our shop has, over the past 20 years, provided Alton Cardiac Rehab with a presence in the town and in the past has been a valuable source of income for the charity. We need it to be again, but we do need help from the citizens of Alton.

“The Cardiac Rehab shop is the only charity shop directly linked to an Alton charity and I urge the people of Alton and surrounding villages to bear this in mind when making their greatly valued charity shop donations.”

His message is clear: “Alton Cardiac Rehab needs you and your generosity. We are always grateful for any unwanted household items and clothing. So, to help us to survive, could you please turn out your wardrobes and cupboards and make donations of your unwanted items to our shop? While you are there, you might just see exactly what you have been looking for.”

As well as good quality donations, the shop would appreciate more volunteer support, particularly from those with retail experience and ideas and initiatives, as well as shoppers through the door.

In the meantime, Cardiac Rehab continues to provide the essential and life-enhancing services it does to its many exercisers at its specialist centre off Chawton Park Road. While as a charity it receives contributions from the exercisers who use its services, most of its funds are raised through donations and the events it runs. The charity receives no funding from government or the NHS, so the income it needs to maintain the services it provides comes primarily from the generosity of the community.

Heart disease remains one of the single biggest killers in the UK with on average 435 people each day losing their lives to cardiovascular disease.

Mr Lovell concluded: “Cardiac Rehab is playing its part in improving the health, fitness and well-being of those with or those at risk of developing heart disease. Cardiac Rehab can do more, and wishes to do more, but does need the continuing support of the community to meet its annual running costs, which this year will be more than £300,000.”

To find out more about how you can help or support Cardiac Rehab, call Martin Lovell on 01420 544794 or e-mail [email protected].