A PETERSFIELD Christmas card shop which raises money for local and national charities will open again this year, thanks to the Post.

There were fears the Cards for Good Causes outlet wouldn’t open this year as it couldn’t find a shop to rent before the Post carried a heartfelt plea for a new home.

And now the shop has found a home right in the middle of the town centre.

Time was fast running out, said shop manager Phil Willoughby.

She added: “We always open from early October to just before Christmas.

“We need to be in a shop by late September really so we have time to set up, get the cards in and get ready.

“So we were getting to the point where we were despairing of finding somewhere in time in the town centre, it was all getting very last minute.

“But the Post publicising our plight helped us find another shop in The Square, exactly what we wanted.”

The volunteer-run shop is now located in the corner of the Lloyds Bank forecourt between the bank and The Square Brewery pub.

Phil said: “Fullers were very generous, and the pub staff have been really helpful, I can’t thank them enough.”

Now the race is on to get the two-storey shop ready in time for it’s opening on Monday, October 9.

Phil said: “It’s been empty for four years, so we have given it a good clean, and smartened it up.

“My husband has done some work on the stairs, and we are now getting all the tables and cards in, and starting to set everything up.”

In the past ten years the shop has raised more than £500,000 by selling cards and small gifts on behalf of more than 30 charities.

These include local ones, such as The Rosemary Foundation and Canine Partners, and national ones including Cancer Research UK.

For the past six years the card shop has used the Butser Room in Petersfield Library as its base.

But towards the end of the summer Phil learned it wasn’t going to be available this year as work getting it ready for a permanent tenant, Petersfield Citizen Advice Bureau, is due to start.

Charity card-selling was started in the town by Petersfield woman Hilda Gammon in the early 1960s.

At first she sold cards from her home, but it became so popular, she had to rent bigger town centre shops. Around 1969, the shop joined the nationwide Cards for Good Causes charity, which has more than 300 card outlets across the UK.

The shop will be open six days a week from Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 4.30pm, until December 16.