SPCA sees opportunity to store up some funding

An SPCA opportunity shop opening tomorrow on Chapel St aims to put all its earnings back into the community.

SPCA volunteer Fleur Harlick will be the voluntary store manager and has been working hard to get the shop up and running.

"We started asking for donations at the end of last year. It's taken a little while to get approved by committee," Ms Harlick said.

Ms Harlick said she was inspired to open an SPCA shop in Masterton after visiting one in Palmerston North and seeing how well they were doing.

"The SPCA needs to do something to get some more funds, so we are just trying to help ourselves.

"Rather than just asking for donations, we are doing something.

"With the hard economic times it's harder to run places like the SPCA, you get no government funding at all. Someone has to help," Ms Harlick said.

She said money raised from the opshop would stay local.

"Our intention is to try and do something visible from it for the community."

Rent and bills such as power and phone would be paid for by the SPCA and will be reimbursed from the shop's sales.

Ms Harlick said donations from the community had been overwhelming.

She said local building business MB Brown had been particularly helpful and had donated all the store's shelving.

"We've had some really nice help from people.

"We will still gratefully accept any donation."

Ms Harlick had originally hoped the shop would open yesterday but problems installing the eftpos machine have delayed the opening until tomorrow.

"I'm looking forward to finally seeing it happen. There's a lot of people who have their reservations about whether it's going to work but I don't, because it's done so well in other areas."

The shop sells second-hand clothing, books, homeware, tools, toys and petware.

"We've got such a large range of stuff people have given us, it's just amazing."

Fellow SPCA volunteers will help Ms Harlick run the shop.