A REGIONAL children’s hospice charity has launched a new campaign to appeal for support after seeing a massive drop in volunteers.

The East Anglia Children’s Hospice (EACH), which has outlets in Halstead and Sudbury, has launched a new campaign - ‘we need YOU.’

The campaign aims to keep the trust’s 43 outlets across the East of England open to raise vital funds for the charity, which cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across the area and supports their families. It comes as the charity’s shops returned to trading last month after a year in which disruption caused by the pandemic has left the charity forecasting a deficit.

EACH says that, following a positive level of footfall and donations, it has seen the number of hours of volunteer support drop by more than 50 per cent.

Sarah Throssell, EACH acting head of retail, said: “With many of our shop volunteers currently unable to lend a hand owing to the effects of the pandemic, the number of hours’ support we ordinarily receive is down more than 50 per cent.

“Our shops simply cannot run and raise the millions of pounds they normally do without the generosity of volunteers, and as more and more families exhausted from shielding reach out for support it’s never been so important.”

The charity is offering taster shifts for anyone interested in lending a hand.

For more information, visit each.org.uk/weneedyou.