Hospice team get crafty with a trendy, friendly Ouseburn venue
Written by Kai Palmer on 22nd May 2025
Photo: St Oswald’s Hospice
SPACER
A charity which supports those with life-limiting conditions is now looking to support those who want to live a more environmentally-friendly life.
It’s a new approach to fund-raising from the young team working for St Oswald’s Hospice, in Newcastle. Kai Palmer went along to check it out.
Like most charities, St Oswald’s Hospice fundraising team have been on the lookout for new ways to raise money for their vital services.
The trendy Ouseburn is teeming with independent, vintage stores that are all about shopping small and buying sustainably.
Bring those two worlds together and you have the space.
From £1 vintage sales to thoughtful bereavement support, the St Oswald’s team arrived in the Ouseburn last October and are on a mission to boost sustainable fashion and support the community, all whilst raising cash for the hospice.
Having been open around six months, Will White, Ouseburn assistant manager, said: “We’re still relatively new to the area, we just want to put our name out, let everyone hear about us, and get everyone involved.”
Will also expressed his desire to create an environment where people come “not just to buy clothes and help our charity but to make friends and have a nice time”.
It’s refreshing to see the community spirit reflected in the aims of the team, which will not only benefit the thriving Ouseburn community but also the hospice services.
The team at the space hold Kilo Sales and £1 Sales throughout the month, and they’re certainly not short on stock.
The new event venue is located in the charity’s retail hub, which is also home to a donation point, sorting area and staff offices.
On a tour of the retail hub, retail communications and marketing officer Eilish Malliagh revealed the sheer amount of second-hand goods and clothing donated by the public, with multiple, huge warehouse-sized piles of goods waiting to be re-loved.
It’s a stark reminder of just how much charities like St Oswald’s Hospice hold and how much is thrown away – at a time when the need to be sustainable and reduce our consumerism has never been more pressing.
Rebecca Robinson, e-commerce manager, said: “We get tons and tons of donations, which we are grateful for, but […] we’ve got an awful lot of it, and we don’t want anything to go to waste.”
Manager Will White and colleague Katie at the space in Ouseburn. Credit: St Oswald’s Hospice
Most of the stock donated to the St Oswald donation point, next to the space, is distributed to the charity’s’s 25 shops across the North East, some of which are traditional charity shops, and some specialists in vintage clothing, books and furniture.
At a time when hospice running costs are putting pressure on their services, now would be a good time to give the big brands a rest and visit one of the charity’s excellent shops.
Rebecca also talks about the team’s hopes to hold bereavement cafes at the space, where people who may have lost someone recently – including friend or family of people who have died in the hospice – can come.
The team say that while the hospice itself may be a difficult place to go back to for bereaved relatives, they want to “give someone a different space to come and meet people and talk about how they’re feeling”.
Rebecca says the venue could host a clothes sale at the same time, making the idea of visiting a bereavement café less daunting, and meaning people could even benefit from supportive chats with the bereavement team whilst browsing for clothes.
She added: “The biggest problem – and it’s a problem that exists in society in general – is how much clothes and fabric waste there is.”
The team are thinking of “creative solutions” to tackling this waste and recently ran a session with Northumbria University, teaching people how to repair clothing.
By doing this, Rebecca says the team are helping give people “the tools to look after things for a little bit longer [to] reduce some of that waste”.
Giving the community skills that allow them to love their own clothing for longer could be one of the most effective ways of reducing waste and reducing consumption.
The team even expressed interest in using the space as a music venue in future, showing the flexibility not only of the building but of the team themselves, who have clearly been working hard behind the scenes to appeal to the Ouseburn’s music-loving demographic, which is already known for its popular grassroot venues, not least The Cluny.
the space team are also open to any ideas that people have – particularly for creatives who works with materials – as to how they might use the venue.
You can follow what the St Oswald’s Hospice retail team are up to via their Instagram and Facebook (@stoswaldsretail)the space is located on Ouse Street, Byker, NE1 2AG and discover upcoming events here: www.stoswaldsuk.org/the-space-by-st-oswalds-hospice/
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