AN explosion in the popularity of charity shops has led to a shortage of goods.

With bargain hunters snapping up the region’s best items, charity chiefs have kicked off a new campaign to appeal for quality donations.

The Choose Charity Shops campaign has been launched by the Charity Retail Association, who say that charity shop popularity is at an all time high.

The campaign has been backed by local MP Simon Reevell, who visited Denby Dale’s Kirkwood Hospice shop.

The Dewsbury Tory brought in a bag of donations of his own and witnessed first hand how a charity shop works.

He said: “I enjoyed my visit to the Kirkwood Hospice shop in Denby Dale.

“I wanted to support this important national campaign and also visit a local charity shop which does very valuable fundraising work.

“I know that they would very much appreciate any donation of items.”

Warren Alexander, chief executive of the Charity Retail Association, said: “Charity shops simply can’t survive without donations from the public and we are delighted to have Simon Reevell supporting the campaign.”

Kirkwood Hospice Shop manager, Cathy Carlyon, said: “I love being part of the local community here at Denby Dale and seeing customers’ faces as they delight in our shop at the product range we have on offer.

“There is a national love affair in Britain with the charity shop and more and more people are shopping with us.

“But for us to continue to thrive we really need support.

“We know that people have lots of clothing in their wardrobes or other household items to donate, so we are asking people to visit one of the Kirkwood Hospice shops and donate their stuff.”

Charity shops now raise more than £200m every year for a huge range of charitable causes and they reduce the UK’s carbon emissions by 3.7m tonnes every year through re-using items.

They also support 180,000 volunteering opportunities and 17,000 jobs.

Kirkwood, the Hospice for Kirklees, cares for local people who face life-threatening illness, for example cancer, late stage heart failure or severe lung disease.

Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, all care at Kirkwood is provided free of charge.

There are 17 Kirkwood Hospice shops which include sites in Mirfield, Kirkburton, Denby Dale and Dewsbury.

The shops form a central part of the hospice’s income, raising over £1.7m in 2011-2012.

Contact: www.kirkwoodhospice.co.uk