A THREE month project turned into a nine year labour of love for John Greenslade, who has helped raise thousands of pounds for Dorothy House by running its second hand furniture shop in Melksham.

Mr Greenslade, 64, worked his last shift on Saturday, as he turns 65 in June and wants to spend more time sea fishing, looking after his 10-month-old granddaughter Chloe and improving his golf handicap.

Mr Greenslade, a former bank manager, started the shop in Church Street with Don Lloyd, nine and half years ago, to help clear-out one of the charity's warehouses, which was filling up with donated furniture.

But the success of the shop soon turned the short-term project into a permanent operation. Last year it made £80,000 for the charity and now boasts a team of 30 volunteers.

Mr Greenslade said: "My wife Diana works as the manager for the Dorothy House shop across the road. The area manager asked if I would like to open a second hand furniture shop for three months.

"I was absolutely astonished at the demand. Everything you see in the shop is donated. There is nothing bought in. "We have had a Clarice Clift bed and another pair of beds donated a couple of years ago were sold for £1,000 each."

Mr Greenslade said Dorothy House was a charity close to his heart and said he was delighted it was celebrating its 30th birthday this year.

"Over the ten years I have been involved I have seen its services expanding to cover all sorts, from daycare to home visits," he said. "They do a fantastic job; there is no doubt about it.

"We have volunteers whose other halves have been through the Dorothy House situation.

"I shall be sad to leave the shop in some respects. I will miss the people."

Derek Freathy and Julianne Colbran will take on the manager position on a jobshare basis.

  • Ann Coventry, who has managed the Dorothy House shop in High Street, Warminster, for the past 11 years, is also retiring. The shop is due to move to new premises in the Three Horseshoes Mall in August.