Christmas has come early to Petersfield as an annual charity pop-up shop returns.

The Christmas Charity Shop is back at the library until around December 22. Giving shoppers plenty of time to stock up on their cards or pick some up at the last minute.

It has been running in town since 1969 by local volunteers and is part of Cards for Good Causes. A non-profit where charities design their own cards which are then printed and the profits from sales go back to the charities.

“They are lovely cards,” said town mayor Cllr Lesley Farrow, who has been volunteering at the pop-up since the Covid pandemic. 

“The charities can create their own designs and re-use old ones if they want to. It was a great friend of mine who rang me at the start of Covid.

“She said ‘we can't run it’ because the group was run by older women who were among the more vulnerable and couldn’t go out.”

After getting a deputy, Lesley came on board and has been a volunteer for every festive season since then. 

Each charity will have its own section or share with another, where the cards are displayed and the price will be listed on the outside. All the cards are made from recyclable materials so they are eco-friendly. 

The pop-up at the Petersfield Library is open from 9.30am to 5.30pm every day except Thursday afternoon and Sunday. For more information, check out Cards for Good Causes online.